Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It occasionally shoots small puffs of smoke from its nose, like it’s trying to breathe fire.

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.

Vancomi is named after the large male red dragon on the scroll, Vanco. He was charmed to be a perpetual hatchling to prevent any fighting that may have arisen between them when he matured. As Vanco, the red male adult, is not truly a fighter, the odds of him being made miserable by another red male were high. Vancomi is a rascal, scamp and independent little cuss, all the same.