High on her mountain aerie, where only the hardiest of plants find purchase, twisted into grotesque shapes by wind, erosion, claws and time, a mother Sub-Dragon welcomes her first hatchling into the world. In it's first few seconds of true, out-of-the-egg awareness the hatchling learns two things it must never forget; it's mother's strangely bird-like croon she uses only for her brood and her scent. Dad back-wings on his fly-by, ever alert to any dangers from the air. A stern look from Dad to any airborne threat with a taste for dragon eggs or hatchlings generally sends them scurrying back in the other direction. Once classified as a Dragon/Wyvern hybrid they have been determined to be true Dragons. Their four-chambered stomaches (two for digestion and two for creating a phosphine-like gas that catches fire upon contact with air), their frontal arms as well as wings coupled with DNA analysis and gene mapping assures they are a smaller version of their only true threat, their larger Millennium cousins. They are what Dad is especially watchful for since his Doe and brood have been otherwise occupied. He's been able to eat what he catches on the fly so he has fared a little better than Mom although constant watchfulness and flying do take their toll. Mom has not eaten in the 36 days since she laid her four eggs and it's starting to show. She will not leave the nesting site until all her eggs are hatched or deemed unlikely to, then the whole family will go hunting together. The hatchlings learning to catch food thier size on the wing such as locusts, cicadas and the occasional small bird, if they happen to catch it unawares, which doesn't happen often. When Dragons fly the skies even birds learn to look up! Although the Millennium Dragon is larger than it's Sub-cousin it's colors and (if we may say so ) it's dramatic flair for showing off usually let Dad see them well before they become a threat. A Sub-Dragon in hiding is well and truely hidden. At around six months old the hatchlings are about half the size of their parents and starting to learn to breathe fire. A sometimes comical affair till they figure the subtleties of the art. Mom will gently distance herself from them before the next mating season begins. Even with their small stature at this age they are around the same size as the Millennium hatchlings which hatch at a later time, making that match a some-what fair one. A blast of fire to an eye or other sensitive body part could deter a Millennium adult if it was inexperienced, but sadly only one out of five Sub-Dragon hatchlings usually make it to maturity. Sub-Dragons, unlike their Millennium cousins, mate for life. Next year the scene may be a little different, a tree loses it's purchase and falls or the rains and winds change the rock face yet again, but one thing will remain the same, the Dragons. And so the cycle continues... This is a Poser 7 render...YES...Poser 7...