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.

Skywing dragons spend most of their lives flying in the air. They hunt from the air, diving at prey from above, and land only to rest. They are some of the fastest fliers, capable of extremely high speeds. The webbing at the end of the tail acts as a rudder, allowing them to easily change direction during flight.

Mela makes his home in the furthest north of the Exalted territory, in a great current of the air over a frozen and wind-scoured peak. A solitary and meditative type, he flies above the clouds most of the time, and rarely appears even to other dragons. Like many Skywings, he glories in swiftness, and plays by riding his chosen current to its greatest height, then plummeting to cloud level, and circling back up. He abstains from acrobatics, instead pushing himself to the very limits of speed. A true master of the Air, it's said Mela even sleeps on the wing.