Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. Its scales give off a beautiful golden gleam.

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.

This hatchling likes to use her claws to clear trails in the forest. Unfortunately, she gets distracted by nearby wildlife, unusual fungus, pretty rocks, bird calls, and anything else that happens to strike her fancy. This means she clears trails in meandering and aimless directions, occasionally leaving them as a dead end in the middle of nowhere. Also, she is terrible at describing how to get from one place to another, as what she considers a landmark is generally unrecognizable by anyone else.

The "forbidden" forest where this hatchling lives is known as a dangerous place where folks get lost forever. Occasionally someone finds their way out, half starved, very thirsty, and ranting about the mystical creature that tried to trap them in its enchanted maze. However, no magic is to be found therein despite the rumors; this hatchling has not studied any.