Month 17

Feeding: Once a week.

General Care: Bathing and oiling are both once a week, or more often if necessary.

Training: More flaming in formation drills, increasing in length to test the abilities and stamina of dragons. Falls last 4 hours at this point of the pass (although they are expected to increase to 5 hours next year). At this point, the bigger colors are tired to the point of poor performance at about 2 hours of practice, the smaller colors at about 1.5 hours. Total exhaustion comes after another 20 to 30 minutes after dragons begin to tire. It is hoped that the dragon's stamina will increase as they get older, although it is by now suspected dragons will have to be rotated to cover Falls that hit entirely settled land.

The wide spray of flame throwers has proven dangerous at the higher altitudes, where dragons fight at close quarters, so the golds have settled into practicing below the other dragons. They are safely spaced out and go after the synthetic ropes the other dragons miss. They also are in position to catch any injured dragons that may drop from the higher altitudes, although most catches are mock at this point.

Younger groups of dragons begin to join the older ones in formation and flaming drills when they hit month 17. In ideal conditions, they'd be trained separately for several more months to "catch up" with the abilities of their older peers, but with the decaying sleds and pressure from the holder population, they don't have that option. They are able to learn from the older dragons, but don't have the extra months of experience.

Injuries are high and casualties are common at this point of training, especially after dragons are trained in teleportation. (Which hasn't been discovered yet as of Apr. 1, 2005.) Riders sometimes misdirect dragons and flame their neighbors or don't return from a teleport. Flame throwers also have been known to malfunction, especially if they are not properly cared for.