Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It’s extremely curious and seems to enjoy exploring the area around it.

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.

Behold, seeker of the dragon lore, Teloivo of the Purple dragons. After he had left his mother and gone to the mountains to mature as the males of this breed do, he was not very lucky. He was rather weak and thus lost most of the fights for food in the bleak mountains. Badly wounded and more dead than alive, he was found by a ranger who took pity and carried him back to his hut to nurse the little dragon back to life. It was too late to bring him to grow up, but at least Teloivo survived. He remained with the ranger, following him around like a dog. And although he may be tiny for a dragon, he makes a rather impressive pet and companion for a human in the wilderness.