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.

A moment in time: The sound of fifteen baby blacks running over the cave floor, flying through the air (some zooming away, others clumsily flapping), playing, rough-housing, and demanding adult attention fills the cave.<br/>   This little one is one of them; adorable and adored, even if he doesn't stand out much from the crowd. He is a proud member of the Hatchling Army, known as the HA, and has his name on the HA Duty Roster, Black Branch Division. (Black Branch handles routine magic jobs, but has the primary function of keeping the cave insect-free).<br/>   Most of the games he plays revolve around imagining very glamorous and secret quests for the Black Branch. These games are always about routine magic jobs turning epic, and Black Branch saving the day in the nick of time—with him as the biggest hero of course.