In one last desperate attempt to help Hastiin Sani, she turned her head and attacked the man holding her. He yelped as she bit him on the forearm. Then someone hit her from behind, and everything faded to black.

DANA WOKE UP lying on her back, with a pounding headache. Her arms hurt, and she slowly realized it was because her hands had been tied behind her back, and she was lying on them. Her mouth felt cottony, and her body ached everywhere.

As her thoughts cleared, she began to remember, and her heart began to pound frantically. She looked around and tried to get her bearings. She was in a small room, but it was almost too dark to see much of anything. The only illumination came from the gap at the bottom of the only door.

She heard faint grunts and thumps coming from the other room. Dana’s stomach sank when she realized she was hearing the sound of fists striking flesh. As her eyes got used to the gloom, she discovered she was alone in a small room with wide plank walls and two boarded-up windows. There was no ceiling, just the rafters and a steeply sloped roof. It was probably a mountain cabin, judging from the construction.

Mercifully, the beating taking place in the other room stopped. A minute went by, then she heard Hastiin Sani’s voice. His speech was slow and thick, as if the drug from the dart was still in his system. Or perhaps he’d been given something else. The medicine man was reciting names she didn’t recognize. After a few minutes, his voice drifted off. Her heart almost stopped as she heard the sound of fists on flesh again but, this time, they stopped quickly. Shortly afterward, Hastiin Sani began reciting a litany of names again.

Dana swallowed the bitterness that touched the back of her throat. She knew Hastiin Sani was in the other room, but what about his brave friend who’d fought so hard-Ranger Blueeyes? Was he dead? The possibility made her start trembling.