Thorn has left in the night in search of Fone Bone, while Phoney Bone and three of the villagers head for Old Man's Cave, where they are met by Gran'ma Ben and Lucius. Meanwhile, Fone and Smiley have made it down from the mountains. They are ambushed by Rat Creatures, but Thorn finds them and fights the Rat Creatures off. The Rat Creatures are terrified to discover that she and the Bones were the ones who wounded Kingdok.
Deep in the mountains, The Hooded One tells the Lord of the Locusts of the Bones' latest deeds. The Lord of the Locusts has doubts that “the one who bears the star”, with whom The Hooded One seems obsessed, is as powerful as The Hooded One believes, but allows the search for the "star-bearer" to continue
