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's grown its wings! It must be close to maturing.

Young dragons are relatively defenseless. Their scales don't grow in until right before they mature, and they have almost no strength. Once a hatchling's wings grow in, it marks the beginning of maturation. At this point they are usually left alone by their mother and begin to hunt and survive on their own.

Elkin was an outsider hatchling brought in.  He was frozen in age, and thus will never be an adult, but he makes good use of his small size.  He is being trained by Will to be a healer, and he can easily work his way to the good herbs that are in hard to reach places.