Future
Silverspot anxiously toyed with the letter in her hands. She had just woken up from her hypnotic sleep in her woven silk cocoon, and it was time to read her assignment. The letter had been handed to her by one of the HiveWing guards, yellow and orange with barely any black. Reading this letter came even before looking in the only mirror she had access to, the one she stood beside in Mantis Hive’s large, cavernous cocoon room. Although she hadn’t yet seen her wings, she could certainly feel them. They were sore and felt like she was carrying a load of tree stuff on her back.
This was the moment that she had prepared for her whole life, so why did it make her so nervous? She was an adult now which meant she had to crack open the black obsidian seal and release her future, even though what she really wanted to do was run home to her web and read her favorite story.
With a long, deep breath, Silverspot tore open the royal seal and unfolded the parchment, which had been folded in on itself in thirds. The black script curved neatly in straight lines on the crisp paper. Her vision shook and she had to close her eyes and reopen them so she could focus on what was written. Her heart thudded loudly in her ears, distracting her and making it hard to concentrate, but she tried her best to scan the letter to find what job she had been assigned.
She finally came upon the most important part of the letter. She hastily absorbed the words like they were necessary for her survival, a raging river in a harsh drought. An emptiness settled inside her when read, ‘…Hive Drone and servant for the mistress Aeshna in Cicada Hive’.
This is what Silverspot had expected, yet she had foolishly hoped to be a writer, or a librarian, or a school teacher at least. Those had been her requests, but it seemed like Queen Wasp had decided Silverspot must follow in her mother’s footsteps, and her grandmother’s footsteps, and her grandmother’s mother’s footsteps.
Next on her list of important things was who her partner was going to be. Her eyes skipped down a few more paragraphs until they landed on a segment labeled, ‘Decided Partnership’.
Biting her tongue, Silverspot read on. ‘Silverspot, SilkWing, from Mantis Hive, daughter of Ocola and Mullein, has been partnered with Admiral, SilkWing, from Cicada Hive.’
Admiral did not sound promising, but she really tried to be rational. I’m sure he will be fine. A nice, respectable SilkWing. Even if he’s not what I usually… never mind, she thought.
If there was one thing she was sure of, is that no matter what, she was going to have a nice partnership without any fighting or squabbling. She would make sure of it.
“Who am I kidding? I’m totally going to end up like mother and father,” she groaned quietly to herself.
Silverspot let out a sigh and folded the letter back up. She was trying to be calm and responsible, like she’d always been, but stress was creeping up her spine and into her mind. She had wished to stay in Mantis Hive, for the sake of familiarity and her family, and the sudden news that she will be moving to Cicada Hive shook her core.
She knew from hearing others speak of their letters, that on days of no work, adult SilkWings could leave their assigned Hives and travel, but she also knew that a free day was something very rare, and sometimes the HiveWing guards didn’t permit SilkWings to leave even with the proper documentation. Her heart sank when she realized that it could, in fact, be many years until she saw her family again. She promised herself to make sure her parents knew how much she loved them before she left.
Next on her list was to look in the mirror and analyze what her new wings looked like. Silverspot walked over to the long, floor length mirror and gazed at herself. She could see her regular colors: yellows, oranges, and browns, with silver splashes here and there. But her breath caught when she saw the large wings where her wing buds used to be. She tentatively stretched them out and studied the markings drawn on both sides of her new wing membranes, between her digits. The colors matched her scales, but black and silver patterns were ornately designed into abstract images.
For the first time in her life, Silverspot thought she looked magnificent. Her colors had never been special or peticularly beautiful, especially compared to the gem toned dragons at her school. But there, standing alone in the large Cocoon building with only white silk bundles as her audience, an uncontrolled smile burst free on her face.
“Silverspot!” her mother, Ocola, cried out, running towards her. The emerald green female SilkWing threw her arms and wings around Silverspot, who was startled at first but soon melted into the hug. Silverspot used her own arms to grip her mother’s back, burying her head into her shoulder. Her mother smelled of floral perfume and cleaning solutions, and the familiar scent calmed Silverspot’s nerves for a moment.
Ocola released her daughter and grabbed her face, inspecting it. “Wow, look at you,” she admired. “Your wings are nice and big. Healthy,” Ocola nodded approvingly. “Are you alright? You look a little pale,” Ocola said with sudden concern. Turning her head to look behind her, she continued, “Mullein, does she look pale?”
Silverspot’s father, Mullein, shrugged. “She looks normal, Ocola. Give her some space, she was just in a cocoon for three days for Clearsight’s sake,” he told his partner.
Ocola shot him a look and was about to retort something when Silverspot took her mother’s talons in her own and brought them down from her face.
“I’m fine, mother. Really. I’m just a little… disappointed, you could say, about my assignment.”
Ocola’s face dropped. “Why? What’s wrong? she asked, studying Silverspot’s face. Silverspot sighed and gathered some courage in her chest. “I’m being transferred to Cicada Hive,” she told her parents. Silverspot looked at her mother’s face as Ocola closed her eyes for a moment, registering the news.
“Oh,” her mother breathed.
“We’ll miss you, sweetie,” Mullein said, after a few heartbeats had passed, resting a talon on Silverspot’s forearm.
To be honest, Silverspot was expecting more of a reaction, especially from her mother. It slightly hurt, to have the most important dragon’s in her life not roar in outrage that their child was being taken from them. But acceptance was the SilkWing way, willingly or not, Silverspot had to admit.
“Are you alright, mother?” Silverspot asked the still quiet dragon, her eyes filled with concern.
“I’m fine, dear. Don’t worry about me, I’m supposed to be worrying about you. I’m just trying to accept that you’re all grown up now,” her mother responded, a sad, bittersweet smile lifting the corner of her lips. “Come on, Silverspot, tell us what your job is!” she added with renewed fake excitement, trying to change the topic.
“Oh, well… I’m going to be a hive drone for a HiveWing mistress, Aeshna.” Silverspot’s voice was quiet, letting her dismay shine through.
“No worries dear, I’ve taught you so much about having a mistress already, I’m sure you’ll do fine.”
Silverspot wasn’t worried about not being able to do her job, like her mother though, she was worried about hating her new life. What if I’m miserable there, away from my family and everyone I know? she asked herself. Tears began to well in her eyes, the events of the day finally catching up to her. Furious at herself, she tried to blink the tears away, pretending they never threatened to let loose.
“Let’s go back to the web and pack your stuff, your father and I have a surprise for you,” Ocola said, leading her daughter out of the large building.
Silverspot was surprised that her mother said ‘your father and I’, since usually the two dragons didn’t do much together and couldn’t agree to be civil to save their lives. She didn’t know if her mother was lying or if her parents really had decided on a gift together for her. She hoped it was the latter.
The three dragons rose through the many levels of the Hive, trying their best to conserve energy despite the many staircases they had to climb. SilkWings were only allowed in and out of Hives in two areas, where the silk bridges connected the webs and Hives together.
Silverspot had to look at the tree-stuff floor and squint her eyes when she exited the Hive. Even though the upper Hive had many windows holed through the walls, the lower, more SilkWing occupied areas were darker and less cared for.
The sun was high in the sky, but not yet mid-day. That meant Silverspot still had a while until the day ended and she had to spend her last night in her home.
A jolt of excitement ran through the yellow-brown SilkWing when she saw the horizon line in the distance. Flying. She had wings now, which meant she could fly, something she’d always looked forward to doing. Almost with a hop in her step, she went to the long line of SilkWing dragons waiting to leave the Hive.
Silverspot fidgeted with the metal wrist cuff on her left arm, heavy and a reminder of her place in Pantala’s system. When it was her turn to get released by the guards, she held her right talon out, palm facing up, to reveal the pink scarred initials of her and her parents' names. This was a process she’d long gotten used to, since she had to enter and exit the Hive everyday for school.
The stern looking HiveWings checked off something on their clipboards and dismissively brushed Silverspot through. They then did the same to her parents.
Silverspot waltzed over to the edge of the Hive and peered over the edge of the tree-stuff platform. Her stomach dropped just looking at the dizzyingly far away ground. Nervously, she grabbed the edge of the floor with her talons, feeling the rough underside, before letting go and backing up.
“Going to take the bridge webs back?” her father asked in a teasing tone.
“Of course not,” Silverspot said defensively as she took another peek at the dry, grassy land below her. She had never been a nervous climber before, so it didn’t make sense for her to be acting like a scared dragonet now. I’m an adult, I have wings that work, I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine, she repeated to herself.
Beside her, Ocola leaped into the air, flapping her four wings with ease. Her father followed suit. Silverspot watched as her mother shouted at Mullein for flying too close to her.
Now or never, she thought right before she launched herself off of the Hive.
SilkWings teach their kids to fly in the same way that mother birds do: They let their dragons take off on their own and hope they can make it.
For a brief moment, Silverspot thought that she was going to be the anomaly and plummet to her death before she’d even left her home Hive. She squeezed her eyes shut as she fell in the air, wind whooshing in her ears. She flapped her wings madly, trying to fight against gravity. Air began to get trapped underneath her large, new wings and disrupt her fall. With a squeal, Silverspot began to rise.
“I’m flying!” she shrieked with laughter, feeling like a dragonet. Her mother swooped down beside her on her left, and her father by her right. Together the older dragons showed their daughter how to get to their web from the air.
The sun shone down on Silverspot’s wings and heated her scales from the outside in. The light’s beams hit her parents' green and amber scales and made them shine like polished jewels.
She could feel the wind under her wings as she glided, such a new sensation fascinating her. Silverspot never wanted to land. Here in the air she felt free, like nothing she’d ever done before had.
To her left, she looked at the ginormous Hive and the maze work of webs that surrounded it. It was a sight she’d never seen from this perspective before. It was beautiful, in its own way. It definitely stood out from the barren savannah, Silverspot thought, feeling a pang of sadness for the dead trees that had long been removed.
Mantis Hive twisted with detailed, carved arches and windows that made the tall tree-like structure look like art itself. Near the top, a few stained glass windows sparkled with iridescent rainbows. Silverspot knew that Cicada Hive would have even more stained glass and art. She added ‘See Mosaic Garden and Lady Cicada’s Art Gallery’ to the very short list of things she was excited to do at her new home.
Thinking about her new home, anxiety gripped her brain with a strong hold. As much as she had tried to tell herself she was ready the days leading up to her metamorphosis, she wasn’t really. She still wanted to watch the stars with her father and gossip with her mother, she didn’t want to leave them just yet. But she had no choice, she had to follow Queen Wasp’s orders. A strange feeling of anger wound its way through her heart, but it quickly faded when Silverspot saw her home through the entanglement of the beautiful white silk.
Her talons met the slightly sticky material and grasped it tightly. Though she tried to breathe through her nose, her chest burned and she had to give up her efforts and open her mouth to gasp in larger breaths of air. Her wings ached and were tired, they drooped to the ground, not able to hold themselves up.
“Silverspot,” her mom called. “Come over here.”
Silverspot walked along the silk floor to where her parents stood. Her mom was holding a present wrapped in beautiful silver wrapping paper. “Happy metamorphosis, dear,” she said. With a jab of Ocola’s tail, Mullein echoed her.
Hesitantly, Silverspot touched the smooth paper rectangle. Taking it, Silverspot felt its weight, not heavy, but not like feathers, either. “What is it?” she mused out loud. Using one of her black, shiny claws, she sliced the paper open to reveal a gift box. Opening the white box she saw a large stack of paper and a bottle of ink. The stack must have been at least one hundred pages, causing Silverspot’s yellow eyes to widen. “Oh Clearsight! Thank you guys, thank you so much,” she said, loving her new gift. She scrupulously set it down on the web and gave both of her parents a hug at once, grasping each dragon’s neck with one arm.
She felt their talons hugging her back, and she closed her eyes, committing the feeling to memory. She was going to miss this. She promised to herself that she would write to her parents at least once a week until she died.
“We bought it so you could continue to write your stories, even if you weren’t assigned to a transcriber job,” her father said, smiling lovingly at her.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she repeated, picking the paper back up and hugging it. “This is the best gift in all of Pantala.”
Her parents laughed.
Ocola turned her head away as Silverspot continued to inspect her gift, turning the ink bottle in her claws.
“Mother, are you okay?” Silverspot asked, looking up.
Mullein rested a talon on Ocola’s, and for once, she didn’t pull away.
“I’m just not ready for my little girl to leave,” Silverspot’s mother choked out, tears spilling from her eyes.
Affection bloomed in Silverspot’s chest: her mother did care. All doubt was washed away, long forgotten.
“I’m not a little dragonet anymore, mother. I’ll be okay, I promise,” the young adult guaranteed, not sharing her secret fears. I will survive this and thrive, if not for myself, than for my parents.
The moon was out, it had been for a few hours, yet Silverspot had not surrendered to sleep. She sat facing the vast savannah lit by the three moons. She couldn’t sleep, not that she wanted to. She had the idea that if she never went to sleep then she wouldn’t have to wake up and leave. And if she never left, nothing would change. It was impossible and ridiculous, something a dragonet would think, yet she couldn’t stop herself.
The sitting dragon felt the vibrations of the web as someone moved behind her. “Silverspot,” her dad whispered. “What are you doing up?”
“I can’t sleep,” she said simply, not wanting to expand.
With a humph, Mullein sat down next to her. He looked up at the stars. “Do you remember what I taught you about the constellations?”
“Maybe? I don’t know, I haven’t tried to remember in a long time,” she admitted.
“That one, there,” Mullein said, pointing to a constellation. “That one’s Pisces, and that one…” He changed the angle of his arm, so his claw pointed at a different section of the sky, “is Aries.”
“I remember now.”
“Always remember. The stars are our guides, after all. That's where Clearsight got her powers from, the stars and the moons. They give us strength, even when we think we have none left to give.”
Silverspot laughed. “Stop being so wise and mysterious, old dragon.”
“Who are you calling old? You seem to think you’re already all grown up yourself!”
“I’m not, I know I’m not.” She gave her father a warm smile. “But thanks for trying to teach me how to be.” With a sigh she rested her head on her father’s shoulder, careful to make sure her sleek, curved horns avoided all of his appendages.
She was definitely going to miss this.