“Why should you trust me?” Finn let out a small chuckle. “You really are new! Kid, this is a mindscape - you can’t lie in mindscapes.”
Cedric glared silently as he reached out his hand and waited for one of his drones to fly into it. “Reach through the darkness, my Cunning.” A ripple ran through the air coating Cedric, distorting light like heat from a flame. Once it had passed, Cedric could no longer be seen - now replaced with a five year old little girl in a frilly dress. “Gee mister, thank you so much for saving us! A cute little kid like me would have had nooo chance against a big scawy monster like that…” Another ripple ran through the air, and Cedric returned with an unamused look on his face. “Try again.”
“I… I, uh… Wow…” Finnegan took several steps back, a little perturbed by what had just happened. “I honestly did not know that was possible.”
“Is that so.” Cedric looked Finnegan up and down. The man seemed to be genuinely surprised. Then again, it could just be that he thought he was the only one who could lie in a mindscape… No, that wasn’t it. If exceptions were possible, but rare, he would have been more nervous than surprised. Still, he wasn’t as shocked as someone who’d just witnessed what they thought impossible should be. Most likely, he knew it was theoretically possible to lie in the mindscape, but wasn’t aware of anyone that could actually do it. “…Well, good enough for me.”
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
“Wait, you’re going to drop it, just like that!?” Andie turned toward Cedric, who was wandering off to go sit down and rest. “You can’t accuse someone out of the blue like that, then just… take their word for it! At least give the man an apology!”
Cedric shrugged. “I had good reason to accuse him, now I have good reason to believe him.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it, Andie.” Dyllan put his hand on Andie’s shoulder, hoping to calm her down before she burst a blood vessel. “I’ve known Cedric for almost twice as long as you have, so trust me when I say he’s really good at reading people - to the point of being borderline telepathic.” He gestured towards Cedric, who’s eyes were starting to droop - but still watched Finn like a hawk. “So if he says he had a good reason, I believe him.”