Dragons are creatures with nearly unlimited life spans. They can survive for long periods of time, and no one has found a dragon that has died of old age. Adolescence is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling’s wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. Once they hit adolescence, hatchlings change quickly, maturing to their full forms in only 2 years.

Dragons don’t communicate with each other verbally, but they will growl to scare off predators and frighten prey. Young dragons will emit an extremely high-pitched squeal when they are frightened. To communicate, they use telepathy with each other and to speak to other creatures.

Pygmy dragons are the smallest breed of true dragons, being the size of a small cat. They are often found around concentrated populations of dragons, relying on their larger brethren to ward away potential predators and to leave generous scraps. As such, the majority of a pygmy’s diet is scavenged, though they do hunt songbirds and small mammals when the pickings are slim. Due to their tiny size, pygmies do not breed with other varieties of dragons, but select mates within their breed.

Although she is the 'pet' of a lesser human noble, Needlefang is a life-long member of Preto Osso's weyr and refuses to let the silly teenage girl who considers herself the master of the little dragoness get in the way of her natural life.

Truth be told, she was sent to keep an eye on her human's father; the greedy man posed a threat to the weyr with his beady eyes fixed firmly on the metal ores buried deep beneath Preto's cave.  Although he was eager to take his daughters and raze the noble's village, Winged Nimbus talked the aggressive Alpha male into a more subtle attack.

With her great intelligence and knowledge of the lands around the cave, Needlefang charmed her way into gaining the noble's daughter's affection.  Since the tiny Pygmy's stationing in the household itself, she's been able to overhear the noble's plans to sneakily drive the weyr away; thanks to Needlefang, all attempts have been easily thwarted.