lie; she never had a nursemaid. Meanwhile, The Hooded One approaches Roque Ja and asks him to recapture the Bones. At Old Man's Cave, the survivors of the Rat Creature attack are gathered, along with a large group of Veni Yan warriors. Gran'ma Ben tells Phoney Bone that the dragons' Queen, Mim, kept the Dreaming in balance until the Lord of the Locusts drove her insane, and the other dragons were forced to turn Mim to stone. The Hooded One, she tells him, wants to sacrifice him to free the Lord of the Locusts. Wolf Call Thorn returns to the farmhouse to collect her belongings. She plans to take on The Hooded One alone; but the Bones convince her to trust Gran'ma Ben, and the three set off for Old Man's Cave. Meanwhile, a patrol of villagers and Veni Yan warriors, led by Lucius Down, scout the area for Rat Creatures. Lucius comes across The Hooded One, who assumes the appearance of the woman killed along with Thorn's parents: alive and not looking a day older, to distract Lucius from the Rat Creatures' attack. Later, at Old Man's Cave, with no word of Lucius Down and his scout party, Gran'ma Ben continues filling in Phoney on the history of the valley and the nature of the Dreaming. Soon after, Lucius' party arrives at the cave, many of them wounded, with a pack of Rat Creatures still in pursuit. Blood Moon Lucius Down relates to Gran'ma Ben that the Hooded One is her now-undead sister, Briar Harvestar. Gran'ma Ben tells him that despite pleading with the council of dragons at Deren Gard, they refused to get involved in the fight, meaning the valley folk must face her and her Rat Creature armies alone. The villagers argue over whether or not to hand Phoney Bone, "the one who bears the star", over to The Hooded One to appease her, and in the confusion Phoney slips away, leaving his star-bearing shirt behind. Gran'ma Ben goes after him, but Roque Ja attacks her. Thorn and Fone enter the fray, but she and Phoney are captured. Fone Bone, knocked senseless, sees in his dreams the Great Red Dragon, who hands him the royal medallion and orders him to save Thorn. Some time later, at the ancient temple high in the mountains, The Hooded One prepares to sacrifice Phoney to the Lord of the Locusts. Phoney