The evil Hooded One surrounds the walled city of Atheia and offers the trapped citizens two choices: 'Surrender or Die!' Fone Bone and his friends seek desperately for a way out so that Thorn can search for the mythological Crown of Horns an ancient weapon that can defeat the Lord of the Locusts. Meanwhile, the unflappable and greedy Phoney Bone prepares his latest moneymaking scheme: making money! Finally, the usurper Tarsil himself corners our heroes in one of the biggest turning points in all of the Bone saga!