Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. Its eyes glow brightly at night, and it enjoys attacking insects and small animals.

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.

Ekona is Zatsu's apprentice, and his second favorite dragon next to himself. She is his adoring, ever-loyal prodigy, but she does not see their discrimination as selfish and does not openly acknowledge that she thinks Alternate Black dragons are superior. Rather, she sees Alternate blacks as the key to a peaceful, well-functioning society, as it is always the Hellfires or Seragammas or, the gods forbid, a regular Black dragon stirring up trouble. The other hatchlings ignore her completely, and older dragons shake their head as they wonder how one could become so convoluted at such a young age. But Ekona carries on with her head high, all while basking in Zatsu's endless praise. What she doesn't know is that the second an Alternate Black is born with a nicer heritage, Zatsu will completely cast her aside in favor of the other.