The Silver Reckoning

Chapter 6: Inspection

Days blurred into weeks, and weeks blurred into months, until the sense of time had all but disappeared. Silver had no idea how long she ended up building the machine, but it became an almost natural routine. Get up early in the morning and work until late at night with a small break in the middle. It was mentally exhausting, and often it didn't take long for the metallic dragoness to fall to sleep.

The way they made the machine confused her. The dome was getting closer to completion and looked stranger every day. It had long ravines cut into the side, snaking over the surface and leading to the very centre, where Silver had just begun to build a small sphere that looked as if it was meant to hold something. What it was she hadn't figured out yet. Nor had she figured out the purpose of the machine.

Diana had been rather good with Silver as well, making sure she was fed every second day as well as bathed and cleaned. She kept a tight schedule, and was very annoyed when she was forced to leave the dragoness at the small lift every day. Often, at night, she would talk to Silver, wishing the dragon could talk back but not knowing that she could. Another frustrating regulation of this place.

The end of every week was what Silver looked forward to. It was the time when she was allowed a break from the continuous breathing of metal. She was able to talk to her brother, and get to know some of the other dragons around the area as well. Many seemed eager to know her, and she found herself retelling many of her stories, like the escape from D.E.D, or the fight against Firefly. Telling the dragons stories helped her sanity as well; for she was beginning to find herself in despair. The sickness never came back, but she wished it would, for it would give her another chance to see the sky.

After a couple of months her dreams of past, future and present also faded, but her final dream stuck in her mind. She assumed it was towards the end of the first age, with humans riding on the backs of dragons into a large battle. That vision made her a little confused and all the more interested in the dragons of that time.

One morning something changed in her routine however. She woke up to the grating of metal against metal as the door for her stable was opened, and looked up to see Diana there, as usual. Behind her stood The Admiral. This caused Silver to quickly stand to her feet, weary of the man. She saw him occasionally when he came to check on her progress, but since her sickness he had kept himself at arms length.

Diana stepped to the side, allowing The Admiral in. He looked around the cage, before turning his steely gaze on the dragoness. She shuffled a little uncomfortably, and lowered her eyes. A small smile formed on his face.

"Good news Silver, today we are going to be doing something different," he said, "At the age of nine we perform an inspection of a dragons physical, mental and emotional capabilities. It used to be ten, but we changed it, and now it's your turn to go through this inspection."

She looked up at him with a small frown, going to talk but finding herself unable to. He saw her look and smiled again.

"Today is your hatching day, so congratulations!" he said.

Hey eyes widened and a small growl came from her. That couldn't be right. If it was her ninth hatching day then it meant she had spent over nine months in this horrible place, being controlled and manipulated by humans. A small shiver ran through her, it couldn't have been that long. A growl escaped her throat.

"I see you still haven't found your manners," his eyes narrowed slightly, "But there is not much we can do about that I'm afraid. Now come on."

He turned and walked out of the cage, followed by Diana with her stoic expression. Silver hesitated, before slowly walking out from the cage as well. Eyes instantly went to her, as they usually did, the dragons from their stables watching as she walked away.