Chapter 14: More Meetings

Stan took a step back and then froze. The dragon watched him smugly from the wall for a moment. Its iridescent purple scales reflected the light of the fires in the cavern. Then it came forward. It glided down the side of the cavern like a garden lizard would down a tree. As it circled around Stan, corralling his frozen body on all sides with walls of scaly flesh, he was distantly aware of Fiddleford screaming his name. The dragon's head reared above him.

All Stan could think was that this was it. He was going to die. It was certainly not what he had imagined, but it was at least an interesting way to go out. He really hoped that dragons did not play with their food like cats.

"So little thief, do you still have the pendent you stole from me?" The dragon asked.

The pendent? The pendent!

With shaking hands Stan riffled around in his pocket. He had been planning to sell it when he was in Portland, but hadn't been able to work up the energy to do so. He was suddenly very glad for that. He found it and held it up to the dragon.

"Good," The dragon said. "Do you know the significance of that?"

"N-No, Sir," Stan managed to force out nervously.

"Ma'am," The dragon corrected him.

"Normally that pendent is only given to humans that have been deemed to be allies and friends of dragon kind. It allows the human who bears it to understand the speech of dragons. It is a high honor."

The dragon paused letting that sink in.

"Um, here. You can have it back, Ma'am," Stan said. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. Please don't kill me."

The dragon snorted out a puff of smoke.

"That's not how it works," She said. "Now that you have taken ownership of it, I cannot take it back until you are dead."

Stan eyes widened as the connotations settled in.

"So you're definitely going to kill me."

"I was going to," The dragon said. "But in light of recent events, I've decided to give you a chance."

The dragon lowered its head down close fixing him a large eye. It was so close that Stan could see the veins.

"Prove yourself worthy and noble and I will let you live and you shall keep the pendent. Fail and well… With this apocalypse going on I could certainly use some emergency rations."

The dragon flashed him a grin, sharp pointed ivory teeth on display.

"Got it?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Stan squeaked.

"Good."

With a relaxed but deliberate ease the dragon unwound itself from around Stan. She bounded back up the wall and vanished into a dark tunnel that Stan hadn't noticed before. He clenched his hand tightly around the pendent in an attempt to get it to stop shaking.

Fiddleford watched as the dragon left before moving forward to check on his friend. Stan looked about as pale as a sheet. His eyes were still fixed on the place where the dragon had disappeared.

"Are ya okay, Stan?" Fiddleford asked.

He was shaking himself. He had been pretty sure his friend was going to be dragon chow.

There was no reply.

"Stan?"

Stan blinked and looked at him.

"Wha…? Y-Yeah, I'm fine," He said slowly, left hand clenching tight around something.

"Stan…"

Stan laughed nervously and turned to the bear.

"So what now?" He asked in a slightly high pitched voice.

Fiddleford sighed and turned his attention to the bear as well.

The bear grunted.

"Now we call a meeting to determine if you bring us anything worthwhile and if this plan to rescue your brother has any merit."

A patter of footsteps interrupted them.

"Ma!"

The bear turned to look at the person approaching them and Stan and Fiddleford followed its gaze.

"Mayor!?" Stan said eyes wide.

Fiddleford could understand the sentiment. Like everyone else in town he had heard the rumor that the mayor had been raised by bears. He had assumed it was just that: a rumor. Apparently he was wrong. He wasn't sure why he was surprised. This was Gravity Falls, after all: the place where you might run into a goblin when you went out to get the morning paper and current home to the end of the world.

The spry 70-year-old jogged up to the bear and gave it a quick hug. The bear sniffed his hair and gave him a light bump with her snout in return.

The mayor then turned to them. He looked them up and down for a second before a pleased expression lit up his eyes.

"Mr. McGucket! Mr. Pines! Good to see that you've both made it. Did you bring any supplies?"

"Yeah…" Stan said slowly.

"We've got some in our packs and some more back in the car," Fiddleford said.

"Excellent," The mayor said, beaming. "If you can lend me the keys I'll send someone back to get them."

"Dan!" He yelled back toward the encampment.

Fiddleford glanced over at Stan. The man looked rather uncomfortable. Now that Fiddleford thought about it, that car was Stan's prized possession and had been his home for about ten or fifteen years. It made sense that he would be warry about trusting it to a stranger.

A red-headed teen with a scruffy beard and a plaid flannel shirt came jogging up to them.

"Mrs. Maurice," He said giving a nod of acknowledgement to the bear, before turning to the mayor.

"You wanted me Mr. Mayor?"

"Yes, would you go back to the entrance and retrieve the supplies from this gentleman's car?" The mayor said waving a hand at Stan.

"Of course."

The youth turned expectantly toward Stan who was looking very uncomfortable. There were tight lines across his face and his hands buried deep in his pockets. Fiddleford decided to step in.

"The car's pretty special to my friend, make sure you're careful with it," He said.

He held Dan's gaze until the teen nodded in acknowledgement. This seemed to help a little and Stan rather stiffly surrendered his keys.

After the boy disappeared into the exit tunnel, the large bear, Maurice, turned toward the mayor.

"Eustace, would you call together a meeting. These two seem to think they have some worthwhile information that will help us get the drop on Bill."

The mayor blinked and turned back toward Fiddleford and Stan with an intense gaze.

"I'll do so immediately," He said before jogging off again.

The bear watched him go and then shook her head. She glanced at Stan and Fiddleford.

"Okay you two, follow me."

Maurice led them through the encampment. Humans and creatures, all dirtied and worn, stared at them with interest as they passed by.

Suddenly a small ball of fire, as if from a Roman candle or flare, shot up and illuminated the top of the cavern. Murmuring started to come from all around them. The tents and adobe huts emptied and beings of all varieties converged in the direction Maurice was taking them.

After about five minutes they came to a large clearing in the encampment. A mob of humans were crowded on the left side by the mayor. They wore grease paint and ratty clothing. There was a crowd of tiny little creatures that looked like dwarves with golf balls for heads in front of them.

About five or so unicorns stood on the right watching the proceeding with rather disdainful expressions. One with a rainbow mane aimed a kick at a gnome that was getting too close. Another Manotaur stood to the mayor's left, towering over some of the townsfolk. On the mayors right a weird looking bear with multiple heads and limbs was matching them. It waved at Maurice as they approached.

There were many more strange creatures present, both ones that Fiddleford had seen from his time with Stanford and ones that he was entirely unfamiliar with, but he didn't have any more time to look. They came to a stop in the center of the circle.

Maurice let out a roar and an abrupt silence spread over the room.

"Listen up," She said. "These two humans think they know a way to defeat Bill."

She then wandered across the circle and settled between the mayor and the multi-headed bear. Fiddleford swallowed, paranoia welling up in full force as hundreds of eyeballs settled on him and Stan.