Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It has bright blue eyes, and is as clumsy as any other hatchling, but it never seems to get injured.

And look! It has grown wings! It must be close to maturing.

Young dragons are relatively defenseless. They are born with relatively soft scales, which are shed and replaced with harder ones as the hatchling matures. Once a hatchling’s wings grow in, it typically marks the beginning of maturation. At this point they are often capable of hunting on their own and are usually left alone by their mother.

For generations, mother dragons have told their hatchlings tales of the Year's Children—four seasonal hatchlings and their companions, each representing some aspect of their season.  The seasonal hatchlings are said to have mastered teleportation and, in some cases, freezing, while the companions seem to have only the magic natural to a hatchling of that breed.

Telnyn, Varelja's companion, is the embodiment of solace.  He uses his talents to heal and comfort those hatchlings Varelja chooses to rescue, and regrets that his frozen state prevents him from being able to command the full healing powers of an adult white dragon.  Though he travels with Varelja, Telnyn was actually taken by Marissia and frozen with her magic, but quickly grew tired of Marissia's life of idleness and irresponsibility and decided to join forces with the winter hatchling.  Telnyn is the most somber of the four companions, always mourning those his limited healing powers prevented him from saving.