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.

As their name suggests, Electric dragons are capable of producing electric charges. They can produce different amounts of electricity depending on their mood and time of year. During mating season, their sparks become brighter to attract potential mates. Electric dragons aren’t usually a danger to other dragons, but they do use their power to attack predators and prey.

Sparkflier is a female Electric dragon of the Featherwing Weyr. She is one of the most cheerful dragons of the Weyr, and nothing that happens to her seems to get her down. She is the only dragon of the Weyr who knows about the existence of the Vampires, led by Viyari and Vylira, who owe their lives to Feathers for raising them. Sparkflier was out late one night, returning from an unsuccessful hunt, when she came upon Vylira, the female Vampire. Because Sparkflier is too trusting to realize how much danger she was in, she simply chatted with the wary Vampire about little things like the weather. Ever since, she has considered the Vampire a friend of hers.

Sparkflier's mate is Brightsparks, a pessimistic Electric dragon who worries that her trusting, kind nature will one day get her into trouble. They have a few happy hatchlings together.