Phoney Bone rallies the townsfolk to carry him and his fees into the mountains where he tells them, he will capture and kill a dragon. On the Dragon's Stair Phoney and the townspeople reach the Dragon's Stair, a pass high in the mountains, where Phoney arranges a dragon trap; a ruse as part of his plan to make off for Bonneville with his new wealth, but the plan becomes complicated when the Great Red Dragon deliberately walks into the trap, at the behest of Ted. The townspeople urge Phoney to kill the dragon, but just as he is about to reluctantly do so, Thorn stops him, and shows the townsfolk smoke from the Rat Creature army advancing toward Barrelhaven. A pack of Rat Creatures encounters the party. Thorn, with the four Veni Yan monks alongside her, drive the Rat Creatures back, and Phoney uses Thorn's sword to free the dragon. The dragon and Veni Yan monks chase the Rat Creatures away, and Thorn instructs the townsfolk to arm themselves, as they finally realize they are at war with the Rat Creatures. Bone graphic novels 1997 graphic novels