Eyes of the Storm
Jeff Smith
 The two Stupid Rat Creatures, lying low after wrecking the Great Cow Race, are to their surprise congratulated by Kingdok for their mistake. Thorn has a vivid dream where she, dressed in a regal gown, is beckoned by The Hooded One, who then reveals Fone Bone's head under its hood. The Great Red Dragon appears in Fone Bone's Moby Dick inspired nightmare. The following day, as Fone Bone tries again to write Thorn a love poem, the Dragon himself shows up. Fone Bone asks him about the dream, and the Dragon hints that he actually entered the dream on purpose. The worries of the night are soon forgotten, however, as the Bone cousins have to tackle some of the more onerous tasks of farm life. Lucius, Smiley and Phoney Bone set off back for the Barrelhaven, but a fierce storm strikes up en route, and the wagon is ambushed by Rat Creatures. Smiley Bone leads a charge to safety, but sends the wagon and its passengers over a cliff and into a river. At the farm house, Thorn and Fone Bone shelter from the rain in a barn and discuss each other's dreams, and in particular why Gran'ma Ben lied to Thorn about her past and the Dragons. Suddenly, Fone Bone and Thorn find Gran'ma listing in on their conversation. She then runs into the woods. Fone Bone and Thorn follow Gran'ma Ben into the woods, and she makes her feelings known about Fone Bone, telling him he must have woken the Dragon by coming to the valley. The trio are attacked by Rat Creatures, and Fone Bone calls out to the Great Red Dragon for help; once again he appears and scares them away. However, Gran'ma Ben seems angry with the Dragon. "You think he'll be there whenever you need him," she warns, "but he won't. He wasn't always there for me." Fone Bone tries to make a connection with Thorn. Gran'ma Ben apologizes to Bone for accusing him of stirring up trouble in the valley, knowing the troubles started long before he and his cousins arrived. Fone Bone shows her the map, and tells her about the swarm of locusts, a detail she finds particularly disconcerting - she explains that if the Locusts has returned, a war will be unavoidable. She reveals that Thorn's parents were in fact the monarchs of the realm throughout the generation-long war with the Rat Creatures, and Thorn herself has been the crown princess during the period of uneasy peace since then. She was moved from the palace during the "Nights of Lightning", a series of brutal surprise attacks by the Rat Creatures, and taken to Deren Gard and safety with the Dragons. En route the escort party was betrayed by an accompanying nursemaid and the King and Queen of Atheia, Thorn's parents, were murdered. Meanwhile, spies for the Rat Creatures bring Kingdok and The Hooded One news of the identity of the crown princess. It is revealed that a dangerous entity called the Lord of the Locusts has reawoken, and has The Hooded One under its command. Fone Bone attempts to comfort Thorn after Gran'ma Ben's shocking revelations, and that knowledge she had been dreaming of her past with the Dragons, Deren Gard, and even the ambush and murder of her parents for years. When Lucius, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone arrive at the bar, the taverngoers immediately want to attack Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone, but Lucius objects, saying that all their fiscal debts had been paid off, and that therefore they have no right to attack the Bones. The taverngoers complain that Phoney Bone made them look like idiots, but Lucius explains that they made themselves look like idiots by so easily being taken in by as manipulative and greedy a shrimp as Phoney Bone and by not heeding Lucius' warnings or the obvious signs that this was a scam. Lucius then lays down a competition, made by a bet he made with Phoney Bone; he divides the bar in two, one half will be run by himself, the other by Phoney and Smiley Bone, the side that makes the most money for the tavern wins. Smiley Bone draws all the customers to his side of the bar by giving beer away, but Phoney Bone furiously puts an end to this mischief; after all, the whole point is to make a profit. The crowd decides they've had enough of the Bones and are about to attack them, when Smiley Bone wishes that Fone Bone's dragon was there to protect them and they demand what he means by this. Tales of a dragon draw the townsfolk to Phoney's side of the Barrelhaven bar, and Phoney sees the opportunity to capitalize on their fears by proclaiming himself a dragon slayer. A hooded stranger wearing a pendant with a royal crest on it visits the Barrelhaven, bringing Lucius news about troop movements along the border in South Pawa; a huge army of Rat Creatures is approaching. Gran'ma Ben, hearing the same news via Ted the bug and fearing for Thorn's safety now that the rat creatures know where they live, presents Thorn with her old sword and shield and insists they must leave.