It was the perfect scam. Perfect. Here's how it worked. I'd send Murray ahead to the next town. He'd spend a couple of days stealing cattle, maybe burning down the occasional building (but always making sure it was empty first!)... you know, the usual dragon schtick. Then I'd ride in, and all these bumpkins would be pleading with me to do something about the fierce dragon that was terrorizing their town. In return, they'd throw all kinds of things at me: gold, cash, jewels, a virgin or two. Then Murray and me would have this big fight, with fire and explosions and lots of special effects. I'd win, collect up the loot, drag off the "body", and we'd high-tail out of Dodge. Sure, I kept most of the cash: what's a dragon gonna do with money, huh? I mean, let's get real here, okay? A couple of times we would hire in some chick, and she'd be a princess in distress — the crowd loved that, gotta tell you. Damsel in distress — great hook. Perfect. We'd made this thing work for... oh, I dunno, three, four years maybe... then one night Murray looks up from this newspaper he's been reading and says maybe it's time to try something different. Different? Why screw with something that works so well? But nope, he has this idea. No one trusts authority anymore, he says. People who wield power — like me, I guess — are now seen as suspect. Corrupt. Can't be trusted. I just laughed. That's us to a tee, I say. But he just shakes his head. You dont get it, he says. People want to cheer the underdog now. They wanna applaud the little guy that goes up against Big Government. "So you're the little guy?" "I could be, if we worked it right." Well, I figure, what the hell. The act was getting a bit stale. Maybe it was time to shake it up a bit. So next town we got to, we played it a bit different. Murray feigned an old injury and limped his way in, where, after everyone got over his being a dragon and all, folks warmed up to him. Got him a nice barn to sleep in. Treated his "wound". Then they start asking who did this to their newfound friend, and he tells them about this evil knight (that's me) who's been pursuing him for twenty years. Relentlessly. And the plan would be that I'd ride into town, snarl a lot. We'd have the big fight, except this time I'd lose, and then Murray would sweep up all the good stuff and the dead body (that's me again) and leave with their good graces and best wishes. I snuck into town the night before my "arrival" and discovered, to my horror, that he liked this new arrangement, so much that he was considering just ditching the plan and retiring the act then and there. They were nice to him, he says. They made him feel good about himself. "I dont make you feel good about yerself?" I asked. "Dude, I die every time. What's that do for a dragon's self-esteem?" I argued, but he was adamant. I had plenty of money, he insisted; how much more did I need? It's not about the money, I answered. It's the thrill of the hunt, I said. Pulling this on yet another bunch of rubes, then hitting the road before they figured it out. "Look," I finally said, "let's play this last one out. After that, you wanna break up the act, we break up the act. Okay?" He agreed. So next morning, I put on my fiercest armour and ride snarling into town. Murray must have given them all a good description, because within minutes, I was surrounded by a bunch of really angry villagers with torches and pitchforks. I tried to keep the act going, calling him out, but he just sat there with this big ol' grin on his face as these two town virgins cuddled up to him and stroked his scales. You bastard, I thought, as I hightailed it outa there, much to the cheers of the damn morons. I spent the night hiding in the mountains, shivering my ass off (Hey, Murray was the one responsible for making the fire every night), while looking down on the damn village, which was apparently throwing a big party to celebrate their victory over the evil knight. I woke up the next morning to the smell of smoke. The village had been reduced to a pile of ashes. "Ahem." I turned, and there was Murray, with that big grin still plastered on his face. "What happened?" I asked in bewilderment. "I thought you wanted to bust up the act." "Meh. After you left, they said a bunch of pretty terrible things about you. And I guess I got a little pissed off. So..." I could feel my eyes starting to tear up a bit. "I guess you didnt bring back any gold, huh." "Nope. Guess we'll have to double-down at the next town, huh." "I guess." "Then we best get to it."