When they'd met, Ember had been in late adolescence. He'd been a little kid, too little to be there, and she'd reacted accordingly. Only in hindsight had she realized that he was setting off a protective instinct in her, because his small size and lack of wings had made him look like a hatchling. He was a lot smarter than some hatchling, though, and it'd been easy to form a friendship with a dragon she felt she could actually talk to.