There was a dragon who lived in molten lava. When volcanos erupted the dragon would come leaping out of the crater shooting ultra hot flames from his mouth and nostrils. Then he would range far and near in search of humans to eat. They were not usually very hard to find.
While hot lava was his natural habitat lower temperatures did not bother him. His chest and stomach were armor plated, but the rest of his body was vulnerable to attack by sharp things like swords and arrows. The thing that worried him was that his eyes were not protected. If he wanted to kill and cook a human, he had to lower his head. Then if the human was quick he could attack the dragon as he breathed in, preparing to shoot flame. The dragon had to be careful. He did not want an arrow in his eye.
One day the dragon came upon the ocean. He played in the waves and body surfed on his armor plated belly and had a wonderful time. Then he saw the mermaid.
She was sitting on a rock combing her long sea weed hair. She was watching the dragon and laughing at him.
``What's so funny?'' the dragon shouted over the sound of the waves. He struggled through the surf to meet the mermaid. She pulled him up onto her rock. Up close she was even more beautiful than he had thought, though she smelled of fish and seaweed.
They fell in love. When he saw she had a fish tail instead of legs he was concerned. The mermaid could not live on the land. But if he learned to be a good swimmer he could live in the ocean with the mermaid. He decided to give it a try.
The mermaid said, ``You must be very careful! If you breathe in water you will lose your fire.''
``What would I do then?'' said the dragon, ``I would have nothing to eat.''
``You'd have to learn to eat fish and sea weed,'' said the mermaid.
``Ugh!'' said the dragon, ``I'll be very careful.''
But one day a bull walrus grabbed the mermaid and tried to swim away with her. The dragon roared after the walrus and shot flames at his back. Far down in the water the walrus dropped the mermaid. The dragon dived deep and held the mermaid in his arms. Unfortunately he gasped in a breath of water and the water put out his fire.
The dragon had to learn to eat fish and seaweed. It took a while, but eventually he found the taste of kelp and mackerel quite acceptable.