Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It has bright blue eyes, and is as clumsy as any other hatchling, but it never seems to get injured.

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.

It appears that the leader of a band of healers, Xenebo the Pure, has a little secret. Along her travels it seems that she has adopted a wee little youngster, and cast a spell upon him to halt all aging, to keep him from becoming an adult male. With his darling yawns and sweet disposition, he has won the dragoness' heart, and she carries him upon her back, hidden beneath the folds of her wings.

The little fellow sleeps though an astounding twenty hours a day! Conveniently, the remaining four hours that he is awake happens to be at night, when Xenebo and her group are all asleep—perfect for this hatchling's wild playful romps.