Illusions and Delusions

"Fred," said Irena, "I planted that information. That was part of the trick. Winc and I are very good at this sort of thing. I got a job at the Royal Archive and found the long-lost map of the Southern Caves. Of course, it wasn't the real one. I gave the real one to Sir Adrian and sent the King off on a wild goose chase. Once Adrian got to the Southern Caves and killed the Dragon. Of course, he then would have realized that the "real" map was a fake too and his Dragon was an illusion, but we'd have been long gone by then."

She smiled when she saw Fred's jaw drop. "What, did you really think I'd let someone like Sir Adrian keep his glory? He doesn't deserve it at all. And besides, there is no Dragon of the Southern Caves. Not anymore. The Adventurer's Guild killed everything in there long ago. But people, as always, refused to see the obvious and thought the Dragon had somehow escaped death and would come back to wreak bloody vengeance on the human race. Sure, Winc helped things along a bit by making a few petty noblemen "see" the Dragon, but they mostly conned themselves."

"But then who's burning our fields, kidnapping our children, and ravaging our nation?"

"How should I know? It's certainly none of my business."

"Irena, people are dying because of this enemy! By setting the people of the Great Kingdom on a wild goose chase, you could be placing lives at risk!"

"Hardly. They were going to send an expedition after the Dragon anyway. This will just help them realize that they're barking up the wrong tree. And Winc and I would have gotten a boatload of money. So everybody wins."

Fred bristled. "But that's dishonest!"

"So? Being honest is fine--if you want to be poor and miserable. Sometimes I wonder why I bothered to save your--"

"Look!" interrupted Fred, pointing in the distance. Something was coming their way.

1. It was a sandstorm.
2. It was a horde of metal soldiers.
3. It was a walking cactus.
4. It was a fairly large city that seemed to be moving across the desert.

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