The Red Hunt

A hundred people are captured by those in power. Eighty of the red-tagged individuals are turned into players and sent to the Island of Blackwake, where they are divided into teams of four called Quadrangles. Each team is made up of four required classes: Tactician (the strategist), Fighter (the defender), Scout (the lookout), and Lifeline (the medic). Twenty of the red-tagged people serve as additional players known as Reserves, waiting to replace fallen members if a team loses someone of the same class. No team is allowed to change its structure. Additionally, the rules are simple: find the Scapegoat and kill him. The Quadrangle that succeeds will be granted their freedom by the ruling Triumvirate. But as the game grows more violent, Elowen, one of the players, begins to see the truth behind Blackwake. The island is being controlled by people from the city of Upper Spires, a separate and privileged society that manipulates the environment and the rules for their own gain. While alliances break and teammates fall, Elowen realizes that winning the game may only mean becoming part of the system that trapped them in the first place. To survive is one thing. To escape with their humanity intact is another. Survival is possible, but freedom may be the real illusion.