West of the plains and nestled between the mountains, there is a valley. The valley is large, as valleys go, and inside there are villages, there are towns, and there's a castle. There's a lake fed by a river that runs down from the mountain, and though there's not much farm land for cattle, there's plenty of room for goats. Above the valley, right on the edge where "really steep hill" turns into "shallow mountain" is a cave, and in that cave lives a dragon.
"Don't worry," locals say to visitors when they find out. "The dragon doesn't bother us."
Then they will think about what they've said and add, "Much."
When the dragon does bother them, it's to ask them if they've read any good books lately, and if they have any author recommendations. Had they read the latest by that one man in the city who liked puns? What did they think about that one by the woman who always killed off her characters at the end? Did they read the sequel yet? Why not?
And on the worst days, when the dragon was the most bothersome creature on earth, it would come down to a city or village, pick someone out of the crowd, and follow them around all day insisting they read this book because-- oh my god, that ending! The first half is a bit of a drag, but once the clever thief is introduced, it really gets good!
People would groan, and try to politely get away with excuses like, "I haven't the time; I've got to work. My kids are sick. My husband is away. My wife is pregnant--" and so on. The dragon rarely takes the hint, and will stay until evening, when he looks at the sky and says, "I'd better be off. But do read it and tell me what you think!"
And then he'd take to the air and fly home.
The people who do take the dragon up on his offer often don't regret it; he has a knack for picking books and matching them up with people who would like them. Local booksellers and librarians hate the dragon. They respect the love for reading, but this dragon hoards books the way other ones hoard gold, and so whenever there's a new shipment of books, they have to keep careful watch, or else the dragon might swoop down and steal the whole order.
Sometimes he brings them back after reading them. Often he does not.
The dragon's cave is spacious and deep and goes all along the inside of the mountain in a maze of tunnels and caverns. The floors and walls are all polished stone, carved with pictures of dragons that look like they've been there for a very long time. There are torches placed regularly down all the halls and oil lamps in all the rooms. While most rooms are filled with wall-length shelves stuffed with books, scrolls, and loose leaf pages, there's one room deep in mountain full of giant cushions and blankets. There's also a kitchen, but aside from being dragon-sized, it looks like a normal kitchen.
At the entrance of the cave, there is a sign that says:
Welcome!!!
2437 Mountain Way. Home of the BookWyrm.
Please leave deliveries inside."
the dragon gets a lot of deliveries. Almost all of them are books.
If the delivery men are smart, they'll wait until the dragon is out pestering people before leaving the packages. If they're not, and if they're stupid enough to want a signature, the dragon will come out, ask them their reading habits, and insist that they come inside for a glass of milk and a good book. He'll grab them if they're not moving fast enough, and before they know it, they'll find themselves in an armchair somewhere underground with a book in their hands and a large, smiling dragon looking at them with eager eyes, asking them which part they're at. He will make them finish the whole book, then talk to him about it, and if they're lucky, they'll be able to go home after that.
If not, he has been known to make them read the sequels.