Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. Like the egg it hatched from, it is a very shiny gold.

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.

Metalchime is the pet of a young prince, only about ten in age. His father rules a vast empire, and offered a great sum to whoever could find a wise gold dragon to be a companion to his child. He wasn't exactly expecting to have his men return with an orphaned hatchling rather than a sage adult, but ah, well, such is life.

Metalchime and the prince are very close friends, and they have no greater purpose in life at their age then to romp through the gardens together and get into mischief. Metalchime's scales rustle against each other as she moves about, creating a calming sound, like that of windchimes; people report that this sound is very relaxing and often makes them feel sleepy-and more than one poor solider has gotten in trouble for falling into a snooze upon hearing it!