Bluestone: A Shaman Squirrel Special
#40 of Shaman Squirrel Chronicles
This takes place in the year SY 1092, which is 449 years after "Persephone's Gift."
This is an homage to both Redwall and Avatar.
The heavily forested planet Silvania has almost always been a planet of peace, where anthros and other creatures would go to find solace and unwind. Many villages and tribes were founded on Silvania. One such place was a peaceful commune known as Bluestone Priory, located in Kigorith, a small continent in the northern hemisphere.
Many of the residents of Bluestone Priory were assembled at a large table in the Grand Hall of the priory. They were mostly anthros dressed in robes. Prioress Rinain, a female raccoon who was the current leader of Bluestone Priory, began her announcement. "As we have found out by our trusted sentries of the Wide Rangers, our Priory is in danger." The Wide Rangers were a group of sentries, mostly meerkats, who patrolled Kigorith to keep the peace. "We know a horde of genetically engineered mutants are on their way. Peace, compassion, and our way of living not only are foreign concepts to them, but are an offense to them." She looked around the table, noticing the fear in the faces of the peaceful priory dwellers.
"It is my greatest wish that you have nothing to fear," Prioress Rinain continued. "Sometimes we get answers to our problems in dreams. Lately, many of you have dreamt this same dream. At first it's normal to take these types of dreams for granted, but since many are hearing the same voice speak the same words, it is something we should take seriously. Bookkeeper Thilda, please read the riddle out loud that was spoken in our dreams."
"Yes, Mother Prioress," said Bookkeeper Thilda, a rabbit. She read out loud:
"A hero will fly here on a bell.
A squirrel and a horse,
Not knowing where he fell
He leads the allies on course."
"What could it possibly mean?" said one confused fennec fox named Finwe, scratching his head.
"I'm not sure," said a red panda named Leony. "But fly here on a bell? That doesn't make any sense. Nobody can fly on a bell."
"A hero; singular. But a squirrel and a horse?" asked Thilda. "That would be two."
The commotion of creatures theorizing what the riddle could mean got louder.
"Silence!" said Prioress Rinain. "You'll wake the Lidluns." Lidluns was the term given to the youngest residents of Bluestone Priory.
**
Welkety was a 19 year old Shaman Squirrel who had been living with his parents, his Shaman Squirrel mother Galtsa, and his feral horse father Phaeton. He had the capability of shape-shifting between an anthro-squirrel and feral horse form.
Welkety had always wanted to visit the subcontinent of Kigorith located in the Northern Ocean of the planet Silvania. Lulubelle, a Cygnan Mammalian dragon, was his ride. She had been packed with the gear Welkety needed for his trip.
It must have been several hours when Welkety looked below and saw the southern coastline of Kigorith. "Good girl," he said to Lulubelle. "That's Kigorith, alright. Keep going, let's see if there's any sign of civilization."
A while later, he noticed something. "What's that blue dot? Seems too artificial to be a lake. Why don't we land there?" Lulubelle did as Welkety said, and got closer to the blue object. As they got closer, it was clearly square in shape, and seemed to have another structure within. "Looks like a monastery or basilica of some kind. It's strange to see a large building in the middle of the forest, but let's see who's there." The building was adorned with a variety of domes, cupolas, obelisks, and a bell tower. There was also a very tall tree to the north of the building. "Could that be a quadnut tree? They're from your planet, Lulubelle." Quadnut trees, like Cygnan mammalian dragons, come from the planet Cygnus Prime.
Lulubelle landed in front of what appeared to be a wooden gate of the large blue-bricked wall. What was interesting about it was that the structure was not painted blue but was made of a sturdy, naturally blue mineral. He knocked on the wooden gate. "Hello, anyone there?"
A few moments later, the gate opened, and a kindly old robed creature who appeared to be a hybrid of a badger and a chipmunk answered. "Good afternoon and welcome to Bluestone Priory. I am gatekeeper Agolar. May I help you?"
"I'm Welkety, the Shaman Squirrel," the squirrel answered. Then he pointed to his Cygnagon (an abbreviation of Cygnan mammalian dragon) and said, "that's my loyal companion Lulubelle."
"I've only heard legends about Shaman Squirrels who can magically heal and do other amazing things," said Agolar. "Come on in, I'm sure you'll enjoy our priory."
Welkety followed Agolar into the priory building.
"Well hello," said a heavily robed female raccoon at the entry. "I'm Prioress Rinain. Please take advantage of our great food, and if you need rest, we have rooms."
Welkety noticed her nun-like robes. "Are you a religious order?" he asked.
Prioress Rinain chuckled. "If encouraging a lifestyle of peace, happiness and compassion is considered a religion, then by all means," she answered. "However, we are not religious in the sense of devotion to a deity."
Welkety looked around, admiring the inside of the blue building. Tapestries, artwork, pottery, and other features adorned the walls of the priory's Grand Hall. He noticed an eerie glow between the bricks and in nooks and crannies along the walls. "What is causing the glow?"
"Tell him, Finwe," said Rinain.
"Our blue bricks are made of a mineral called ambientite, common in Kigorith but very rare elsewhere," said Finwe. "When simple life forms such as bacteria ingest particles of the mineral, it causes them to glow."
"Bio-luminescence," said Welkety. "Interesting. I wouldn't mind staying for a day or two," said Welkety.
"Finwe, please show our guest to his room," said Rinain to the fennec fox.
"Yes, Mother Prioress," said Finwe.
Welkety was led to a cozy room with a bed, and some wall hangings of artwork. "This is really nice," he said.
"I'm glad you like it," said Finwe.
Later that evening, it was dinnertime at Bluestone Priory. A wide assortment of food was available. Fruit, flans, cakes, pastries, cheeses, roast fishes, and breads of all kinds adorned the table.
Prioress Rinain sat at the end of the table. "Many of you probably met our latest guest, the Shaman Squirrel Welkety. Could you tell us more about yourself, Welkety?"
"I'm a Shaman Squirrel, from a clan of healers dating back over one thousand years," said Welkety. "A purple orb is the source of my healing abilities. It used to have a limited range, only working when the Shaman is close to it. Now it works no matter what part of the planet I'm on."
A meerkat sentry, who was a captain in the Wide Rangers, walked into Grand Hall. He went to Prioress Rinain and whispered something into her ear. She had a grave expression on her face.
"They're coming," she announced. "First light tomorrow morning." Everyone in Grand Hall got quiet.
"What are we going to do?" asked Finwe.
"We will do what we can to survive," said Rinain. "We are a peaceful priory, but we can and will defend ourselves." She turned to a large female bear who was sitting further down the table. "Gilmirie, please make sure all the Lidluns are safe in Cozy Cave."
Bear Mother Gilmirie nodded. "Yes, Mother Prioress." She made sure all the Lidluns were assembled into the basement, which was nicknamed Cozy Cave. It was the safest place in the priory.
"Do you have any weapons here?" asked Welkety.
"We have knives," said Rinain. "That is all at the moment. Most of our Wide Rangers have weapons, so they should be able to help to some extent, but even they are not enough. A device capable of contacting our other allies is missing, but I know it is somewhere in this priory."
"Who are these other allies?" asked Welkety.
"Tell him, Churri," said Rinain.
A creature resembling an anthro-squirrel, but was shorter, had a less human-like look, and a mane flowing from the top of her head to her tail approached Welkety. "Ny feefle, the Iskret. I've lived at this feaceful friory as long as I can renender," she said. Welkety noticed the size of her incisor teeth, which explained why she had difficulty with lip consonants. This was a trait common in Iskret.
After the dinner was over, Welkety went outside the priory. It was already dusk.
"Well, hello there," said a voice. Welkety looked around and saw a most beautiful creature. She was clearly a unicorn.
"Hi," said Welkety. "I've never seen a unicorn before. Do you live here?"
"Yes," said the unicorn. "I live out here on the priory lawn. I keep it nice and trim with my grazing."
"I hear there is going to be an invasion," said Welkety.
"Yes," said the unicorn. "I know. Apparently, a hero is to come and stop them. At least according to everyone's dream. By the way, my name is Hauna."
"Nice to meet you, Hauna. I'm Welkety. Did you say everyone here had a dream about some hero?" asked Welkety.
"Yes, and I have a feeling that hero is you," said Hauna. "Want to go outside the walls? It gets really pretty at night." The tops of the walls were lit dimly by a bluish lanterns filled with glowing bacteria. At night, the whole priory resembled a beautiful basilica sparkling with blue light during twilight.
"Sure," said Welkety. He followed the unicorn out of the gates. Outside in the forest, were glowing insect-like creatures floating and flying around. On the ground, various fungi had a similar glow. "It's magnificent!"
"Indeed," said Hauna. "That's due to the ambientite."
"I've been told. Now that you've amazed me, I suppose it's time I return the favor," said Welkety. He concentrated, and then began to morph. He grew larger, got on all fours, and his paws and feet became hooves. Welkety was now a feral stallion with a rusty colored coat.
"Amazing," said Hauna. "You're a horse! How many forms can you shift into?"
"Just the two," said Welkety, still retaining his equine form. "My mother was an anthro-squirrel like me, and my father was a horse. We Shaman Squirrels have an ability to shift into the species of our parents."
"The dream," said Hauna. "The voice said the hero would be a squirrel and a horse. This confirms it!"
After a good conversation with his new friend, Welkety shifted back into his anthro-squirrel form, and headed back inside the priory. He went into the room he was given.
Pacing around, he noticed one of the floor stones was unstable. Before he had a chance to avoid it, he fell in, landing in a dark chamber below the room. It was lit only by bio-luminescent light produced by the ambientite. "Where am I? Hello?" said Welkety. "Can anyone hear me?" He walked around the chamber, until he tripped over something. "Ouch, what was that?" He looked down at the object, which was difficult to see in the dim light. Curiosity got to him, so he picked it up, and approached the hole where he fell. He found a ladder, which helped him back up into the room with the odd device.
Welkety went back to the table in Grand Hall. Rinain was discussing strategy plans with many of the Wide Rangers. "Prioress Rinain," said Welkety. "I found something."
"It's the device!" said Rinain. "You found it! Churri, come quick!"
"Yee!" said Churri, excitedly. "You nay have just saved us all."
Rinain turned to Welkety. "Your dragon," she said. "Our gatekeeper says you named her Lulubelle."
"Yes, that's her name," said Welkety.
"Our dream said that the hero would fly on a bell," said Rinain. "I think your dragon is the bell, since that word practically ends her name."
"Interesting. The device," he said. "What does it do exactly?"
"It opens a portal to the planet Cygnus Prime," said Rinain. "That's where our allies, the Iskret are from."
"It's also where Lulubelle's species originates," said Welkety. "So, how do we get this device working?"
Churri turned to him. "It has voth viological and nechanical confonents. I can refair the latter."
"So in a way it's a sort of a cyborg?" asked Welkety.
"Yes," said Churri.
"I can heal it's biological components," said Welkety.
Churri began rapidly repairing the mechanical parts, as she was an expert mechanic. "All fixed! Your turn," said Churri.
Welkety put his hands over the device, and a desire to heal it overcame him, knowing it would save lives. A purple mist enveloped the semi-biological device. Soon, it made a sound, indicating that it turned on, and was alive. Something like spider legs pushed out of its sides, and then it started scurrying around.
"We'll need to take it outside," said Churri. She picked it up, and took it outside. Welkety followed.
When they came to a clearing, she put the device down. It started scurrying around, until it stopped and shot up into the air like a rocket. Then, it started spinning, and a circular wave emanated from it, resembling a whirlpool floating in the air. "The fortal is ofen," said Churri.
"We'll need to ask your Iskret friends for help as soon as possible," said Welkety.
Lulubelle was already flying towards the portal. She instinctively knew what she needed to do. So, she landed in front of Churri and Welkety, and allowed them to mount. She took off with them, and flew through the portal to Cygnus Prime.
**
Night had passed into morning. Many of the priory residents were awake already, but some were woken by the sounds of hideous chanting, and what sounded like a large machine.
Outside the priory, a horde of hundreds of hideous mutants, varying in size, shape, and body part count were wreaking havoc. Some had greenish skin, others purplish or gray. Some had tentacles on their nightmarish bodies. Many were setting fires in the forest. One large group of them were using a bulldozer to knock down the huge quadnut tree. The mutants were armed with daggers and spears, and their intent was to mine the ambientite, and make energy weapons out of the mineral.
The mutants were talking amongst themselves in voices as hideous as their appearance. Ultimately, they wanted to take over Silvania and wipe out peaceful creatures with energy weapons made with ambientite. A large concentration of the mineral happened to be underneath the quadnut tree they were pushing down.
"Uloyiso!" battle-cried the Wide Rangers, as they were charging the horde of mutants. (Uloyiso means "victory" in the Xhosa language of South Africa.) Daggers clashed, also there was an exchange of bow and arrow fire.
Most of the residents of Bluestone Priory were safe inside, but some came out to fight alongside the Wide Rangers. Among them was gatekeeper Agolar and medic Sanzir, a wolf. "We're not going to make it! There's too many of them!" cried one of the Wide Rangers, who Sanzir was trying to heal.
The Wide Rangers were sustaining heavy casualties, while at the same time managed to slay several of the mutants. Just when it seemed like they were going to lose, the portal opened. Hundreds of Cygnagons flew out of the portal dozens at a time, each with at least one Iskret rider armed with bows and arrows. The Iskret called out their battle cry: "Yeeeee chaka chaka chaka chaka!"
The quadnut tree was already falling, and some of the mutants were gathering the ambientite underneath where the roots were. "Not so fast, mutant scum!" cried gatekeeper Agolar, his knife stabbing the mutant where he thought the heart might be. Unfortunately, the mutant had already gave Agolar a huge gash on his head with an ax. Both had perished within seconds. Sanzir had been on his way to help Agolar, but he never made it, because he was felled by a mutant's dagger.
Another mutant broke into the gate, and was within the priory walls. He was no less hideous than the rest of them. He had greenish, almost corpse-like skin, three eyes, a large bumpy head, one arm and one tentacle. He then ran towards Hauna with an ax.
"Bluestooooooooone!" said Welkety in defense of the priory. He was riding on Lulubelle and armed with a bow and arrow. He then shot the mutant, saving Hauna.
"Oh, Welkety, you came just in time!" said Hauna. "I was wondering if you'd ever make it back."
What seemed like forever, but had only lasted about an hour, the battle was over, and victory was claimed by Bluestone Priory and their allies. Many dead mutants, as well as dead Wide Rangers and Iskret, lay on the forest floor. Prioress Rinain and several others came out to see the carnage. Most were weeping to see their dead friends and allies, as well as the fallen tree. "Let this be the last battle here," said Rinain. "We must now and forever more remain a place of peace."
By evening time, things were settling down at Bluestone Priory. Fires were put out by the Wide Rangers. Bodies were buried.
Outside of the Priory, but within the outer walls, Welkety and Hauna were having a conversation.
"What you did was so heroic," said Hauna.
"I'd do anything to save peaceful creatures," said Welkety. "Just curious, do you ever go inside the priory? I've only so far seen you out on the lawn."
"Yes, I do when I need to," said Hauna. "Now that you asked, can I come to your room with you?"
"Sure," said Welkety, as both of them went inside the priory building. Entering the room, he said, "they fixed the loose floorstone. The floor should be stable for you." Welkety shut the door after Hauna came in.
"You made a joke," said Hauna. "A stable. And I'm an equine, hee hee."
"Ha ha," said Welkety. "I make jokes a lot by accident."
"Can you shift to your horse form?" asked Hauna. "I rarely get to see a male equine."
"Sure," said Welkety. Soon, he was a horse again.
Welkety and Hauna nudged together. In his horse form, Welkety stood about a hand shorter than Hauna.
"This is probably a little sudden, but, could you breed me?" asked Hauna.
"I sense that you are in heat," said Welkety. His instincts already rendered his penis fully erect.
Hauna got into position, and Welkety mounted her, inserting his throbbing member into her vagina. Both neighed in pleasure as Welkety continued to thrust. In the last thrust, he was all the way in her, and pumped his seed. Then he dismounted and went limp.
"That was wonderful," said Hauna. "I feel your seed in me."
"I have renewed vigor when I shift back to my squirrel form," said Welkety. He shifted back into his anthro-squirrel form.
"I'm ready when you are," said Hauna.
Hauna seemed much taller now that Welkety was a squirrel again. He found a bucket, turned it over, and began to breed Hauna again. His paws were on either side of her rump as he thrust his member into her. "Ahh... unhhh," he groaned.
"Oh, yes," said Hauna. "Even though it's smaller it's still good to be with you, my hero."
"Would you like to sleep here with me tonight?" asked Welkety.
"Yes," said Hauna. She sat down, and slowly dozed off. Welkety lay his head down on her belly and went to sleep.
Excerpt from the journal of Thilda, Bookkeeper of Bluestone Priory:
_It has been three months since the battle defending our beloved Bluestone Priory from those evil mutants. Much has changed since then. _
The remaining Wide Rangers had discovered where the mutants had come from. There was a portal much like the one we had. It was a gateway that led to another planet. The gateway was promptly destroyed by the Wide Rangers, ensuring that the mutants will no longer invade us.
Rinain had stepped down from her position as Prioress, and became gatekeeper. She had always been close to Agolar, so she thought this would be best. She had chosen Finwe to replace her as the Prior of Bluestone.
The Iskret had donated two quadnut trees to replace the one that had been felled by the mutants. That tree had been part of Bluestone Priory's heritage for over 2000 years. While the new trees are younger and smaller than the one we had, they will serve us for many generations to come with their delicious quadnuts.
Of course I cannot forget to mention our hero, the squirrel and horse, Welkety the Shaman Squirrel. He not only saved our priory, but ultimately the planet Silvania as well. He had agreed to stay with us to become our healer. We never expected to have a healer who needs no medicines or bandages to heal those who are sick or injured. In addition, he and our unicorn Hauna had grown very close, and are married now.
If you are a weary traveller, a good honest creature, or looking for a place of peace and comfort, come to Bluestone Priory. We have our paws open for all.