Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It always seems to be hungry.

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.

Those individuals daring or foolish enough to peek into dragon dens often find a familiar sight; mother dragons carefully guarding their young, the attendant father bringing back meals with which to feed them. However, an even closer look, one only the truly fearless can achieve, sometimes reveals a very strange thing indeed occurring in the nests of drakes; a smug looking little harvest hatchling, all dabbed with mud and dye to mimic the look of the young, taking her fill of the food rightfully meant for her foster siblings! Many have admired the wit of the little parasite, obtaining food and shelter in such a clever way, but there's more to the story than first appears; actually a dragon rendered forever young through magic, this beast's brain is far older than her body, the cheeky beast knowing well how to exploit the generosity and stupidity of drakes to ensure an easy living for herself.