One Lucky Little Dragon
#41 of Shaman Squirrel Chronicles
This takes place in SY 2162, 70 years after "Bluestone: A Shaman Squirrel Special."
Bluestone Priory is a homage to Redwall.
Bluestone Priory was a large, peaceful basilica located in the southern part of the small continent of Kigorith on the planet Silvania. It was a blue building adorned with large domes and surrounded by a wall. A catwalk led from the second floor of the priory on to the wall just above the east gatehouse.
Welkety, an 89-year old Shaman Squirrel, had long been the priory's chief medic, but had passed the title on to his 61 year old son Iplo several years ago when he retired. Iplo was a Shaman Squirrel who had the ability to change shape between a unicorn and an anthro-squirrel, and he can heal any injury or illness just by laying his hands over the patient. When he was younger, Iplo had married Duri, a female hamster who was just a Lidlun during the Great Mutant Invasion of 5092. ("Lidlun" is a nickname given to the youngest inhabitants of Bluestone Priory.)
Iplo and Duri had a 29 year old son named Xanik. Like all shaman squirrels, Xanik could shape shift into the forms of his parents. He, therefore, could shift between squirrel and hamster forms.
Xanik was enjoying the warm, sunny day by flying around on his mate, a 398-year old Cygnagon (Cygnan Mammalian Dragon) named Lulubelle. She was the same steed who had brought Xanik's grandfather Welkety to Bluestone Priory 70 years ago, helping him stop the Great Mutant Invasion.
"Whoa, girl," said Xanik as Lulubelle was swooping around in various circles. Then it occured to him. "Oh, I think I know what this is!" he exclaimed, holding on to her mane tighter as he enjoyed the ride. "I've been waiting for this moment!" Lulubelle landed in a clearing in the forest outside Bluestone Priory and Xanik dismounted.
Prior Athen, the current leader of Bluestone Priory, had been walking down a path near the clearing when he spotted Lulubelle and Xanik. He had very large ears due to the fact he was a hybrid of fennec fox and rabbit. His father Finwe was a fennec fox and had previously been Prior of Bluestone, while his mother Thilda, a rabbit, was the priory's bookkeeper. "Nice morning for a ride, isn't it, Xanik?" Athen asked.
"It is indeed," said Xanik. "But I will be needing privacy pretty soon. Lulubelle is ready to mate, and as you know, she and I are mates."
"There is something I need to tell you relating to that," said Athen. "Many female Cygnagons across Silvania are coming into estrous at the same time."
"Interesting," said Xanik. "But you seem like you think that's a problem."
"It is," said Athen. "Most of the females will be flocking around southern Kigorith looking for males. It will be very difficult to find males to breed these females. At the moment, there are no males on Silvania. All males have entered the Cygnus Portal back to their home planet of Cygnus Prime as part of a complex gathering ritual."
"Perhaps not all," said Xanik. "My father Iplo told me of a pygmy variety that live on Reyro, an island off the northwest coast of Erivia."
"That's pretty far," said Athen. "At least a couple thousand miles."
"I'll need to convince my Lulubelle to go there," said Xanik. "I have a communication bond with her that no others have since we are mated."
Xanik looked up to the face of his massive mate. She was about thirty times heavier than him. This seemed normal and natural for Lulubelle, because males of her species are much smaller than females anyway. "Lulubelle," he said. "We will need to go to the Island of Reyro, do you know where that is?"
Lulubelle looked down at her much smaller mate. 'Of course I do,' she communicated to him telepathically.
"We'll go as soon as I pack for the trip," said Xanik.
Xanik packed his belongings, and strapped them meticulously around Lulubelle. He mounted her back, and waved good-bye.
Lulubelle first flew towards a flock of female Cygnagons heading towards Kigorith. Several of them were her relatives, including her 670-year old grandmother Sarima, her 249-year old daughter Jorunga and her 121-year old granddaughter Isabelle. "I wonder where your mother Varada is?" asked Xanik.
'I think she's on Cygnus Prime,' answered Lulubelle telepathically. 'She wouldn't be coming into estrous anyways. It is too soon after her last heat. It's only been 79 years.' Due to their very long life spans, it is easy for a Cygnagon to refer to that span of time as "only."
"It would have been 5 generations total if she was here," said Xanik. He knew that female Cygnagons have 5 heat cycles during their long life times of several centuries, each cycle 100-150 years apart.
**
About a day later, Xanik was still flying on Lulubelle, asleep in a secure sleeping back strapped to her back. He woke to Lulubelle landing. "Are we there?" asked Xanik.
'We are here,' said Lulubelle. 'This is Reyro.' They were in a clearing in a beautiful tropical paradise, with all manner of palms, koa trees, pisonia, mango, banana, and papaya trees in abundance. In addition, there were several kinds of colorful alien tropical plants as well.
Nearby, Xanik's parents, Iplo and Duri, dismounted Sarima.
Xanik looked around to see that dozens of female Cygnagons have also landed on Reyro, and others were still in the sky on their way.
"The males have got to be here somewhere," said Xanik.
"Did you hear that?" asked Iplo.
"Yes," said Duri. "Sounds like a very sick animal."
"That sound must be coming from that cave," Xanik said, pointing to an opening in an outcrop of rocks. He went inside the cave. "Oh, no," he said.
"What is it, son?" asked Iplo.
"They're all dead," said Xanik.
"Except for this one," said Duri, picking up a limp form, the one that was moaning.
Iplo and Xanik immediately put their hands over the sick male Cygnagon. A strong desire to make this creature healthy overcame them, and a purple mist enveloped him for several seconds, then dissipated. The creature blinked twice, and jumped out of Duri's paws. He looked at Iplo and Xanik with an expression of gratitude.
"That's one lucky little dragon," said Xanik. "Any idea of what it was that killed the others?"
"A fungus called Erivian Drakebane," said Iplo. "It's all over the inside of the cave, and by the look of it, they've been eating it. It looks and tastes edible, but it is highly toxic. It occurs in tropical areas throughout Silvania."
"At least we were able to save this one," said Duri. "Just look at those eyes, he is so cute."
"I don't see how he is going to mate with all of those females," said Xanik. "He's a runt even by male standards."
"He's also a runt by pygmy standards," said Iplo. "I'd say a quarter of the size of a male of Lulubelle's variety. Which means, he's less than one percent the size of each of these females!"
"No wonder I was able to pick him up," said Duri.
"Now, the question is, which female should he breed with first?" asked Xanik. "They're all approaching us."
"I'd say Isabelle should be first," said Iplo. "This will be her first heat. We may have to help the little male."
Isabelle, Lulubelle's granddaughter, approached them. She did not seem to mind that the male was so small. She lay down on her side. Iplo held the male toward Isabelle's gaping vulva, which was dripping of her heat scent. The male sniffed, and licked her region. His penis eased out of his shaft, and he began humping the air while being held by the shoulders. Then Iplo put the male on Isabelle's part, and he began the act. The tiny male could barely hold on, and whenever he slipped, Iplo would help him back on.
"Doesn't the male need to stay with the female for 10 days?" asked Xanik. "How is he going to service all of these females?"
"He'll need to drink a lot of enzyme," said Iplo, referring to the enzyme produced by special nipples on the female that help males produce more sperm.
"Tell me about it," said Xanik.
The male ejaculated a copious quantity of sperm into Isabelle. Then, he crawled towards the enzyme-producing nipples located between Isabelle's hind legs. As he was suckling, Isabelle's mother Jorunga (Lulubelle's daughter) approached them, and lay down. Jorunga knew that it would be a few hours before the male gains more sperm in order to fertilize her, so she started to wait patiently.
"Luckily, the little guy doesn't have to mate with my Lulubelle," said Xanik. "It's her third heat, and female Cygnagons don't mate with males of their own species during that time."
"I know what you're saying, son," said Iplo. "You're reminding us that it's you, the rider, who needs to mate with Lulubelle. Go ahead, we won't look."
Lulubelle lay down on her side. Xanik took off his clothing. Petting Lulubelle's waist, he said, "let's do this." He slid his erect squirrel member into the vagina the huge mammalian dragoness, and kept at it while watching his parents help the little male Cygnagon mate with Lulubelle's daughter Jorunga.
Watching that small male thrust deep and hard with Jorunga encouraged Xanik to do the same with Lulubelle. "Oh, yes!" he said, as his squirrel seed gushed into Lulubelle. Jorunga, who was undergoing her second heat, had also received a good amount of seed from the tiny male. When he was finished, the male climbed to her front and began to drink her sweet enzymatic nectar.
Lulubelle's grandmother Sarima was one of the oldest Cygnagons on the island. Sarima was quite a legend, long respected by generations of Shaman Squirrels. She was one of the Cygnagons who came back from Cygnus Prime with the gift of shape-shifting for the Shaman Squirrels over 5 centuries ago. Despite her age, she was still capable of breeding but she was in her fifth and last heat cycle. She was patiently waiting for the male to be finished suckling on her great-granddaughter.
Her age was apparent. While still strong enough for flight, Sarima had grizzled gray fur, and some of it was missing. She had several dewlaps, folds of loose, fatty skin below her neck. Sarima lay down, exposing her vulva toward the male. Her vagina was huge and stately, having sustained centuries of wear and use, but was still fully functional. This was no problem for the little male, who was held up by Iplo and Duri assisting him. The tiny, young male Cygnagon eagerly thrusted in and out of the gigantic, ancient female until his sperm fertilized her.
"There's at least twenty more to go," said Iplo.
"It would be good to breed him with more females other than Lulubelle's relatives," said Duri. "Imagine all the inbreeding in the next generation."
"Hopefully that won't be a problem," said Iplo. "The shortage of males was a temporary problem, but the heat cycles of the females only last 10 days and they shouldn't be missed. By the next generation, there will be unrelated males once they return from Cygnus Prime."
"Good to know," said Duri.
Meanwhile, the tiny male was mating with another huge female, while another was waiting. He didn't need assistance this time, as he was trained well in the position he was in. "Looks like he's got the hang of it," said Iplo.
"He sure does," said Xanik. "As I said earlier, that is one lucky little dragon."