Beast Master Hosteen Storm has endured great perils to carve out a life for himself on Azor, the colony planet he’s called home since the destruction of Earth by the alien Xil. On a planet with alien life forms and untold secrets from its pre-human past, there are always dangers in the wild, especially in the vast desert and rugged mountain region known as Big Blue.

But nobody has ever experienced a threat like the devastating scourge the natives call Death-Which-Comes-In-The-Night. Something is killing grazing animals, and has begun to attack humans as well, leaving nothing behind but the bones of its victims.

Hosteen, aided by his telepathically linked animals, knows that if he can’t stop the killings Azor will be decimated. His only ally is a young woman who has beast master ability, but was raised to mistrust others with such a power. At stake is the safety of all those on Azor and on other colony planets as well. Because Death-Which-Comes-In-The-Night is a scourge that if not stopped here, could spread...