Kasper's truck clanked to a halt at the mile marker Gore had specified.

They'd dumped the coach's unconscious form just inside the trees on the edge of town, then phoned for an ambulance. This would all be over with by the time the woman even regained consciousness. Luke didn't concern himself with the ramifications of what had happened, trying to focus his mind on nothing except Oaklynn.

He glanced down at his phone as they stopped. A text flashed up from Kenny: 2 mins away.

"Alright, everybody out," Kasper told them, slinging the driver's side door open and sliding out into the dark. Luke followed suite in the passenger seat. Behind them, Gabi and Kyan clambered out into the gloom. Night had well and truly fallen now, and only some struggling street lights kept this part of the highway illuminated.

Flashlights sliced into the gloom, swiping across the treeline. It didn't take them long to find the dirt track road that Gore had mentioned, though if they hadn't been looking for it Luke doubted they ever would have noticed it. The track would barely fit a car on it, and the mouth of the road was half covered in foliage – deliberately, he suspected.

"This must be the place," Kasper muttered, sweeping some of the branches aside and peering up the track.

Luke moved up beside him, casting his torch up the road. He swallowed hard. Nothing about that dark, muddy path looked inviting, but he noticed the fresh tire tracks that cut through the loamy earth. Even to his untrained eye he could see more than one set – several even – a lot of trucks carrying a lot of people.

Gabi leaned in over his shoulder and shook her head grimly. "Another horror movie you didn't see, huh? Nothing good happens down dark tracks in the woods."

"Oh, thanks," Luke replied, giving her a withering look. "You sure you want to be here?"

"Somebody's got to keep an eye on you."

They loitered at the entrance for a few minutes until Kenny emerged from the dark further down the highway, legs pumping on a bicycle. He slewed awkwardly to a halt, dismounted, and gave the bike a rough shove to send it into the undergrowth with an unceremonious crash of broken twigs.

Dusting himself off, he walked over to them, his stride jerking with nervous energy as he unslung the air rifle from off his shoulder.

"Party's here," Kenny said, giving them a thumbs up. He inclined his head to the dirt track. "That it?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Awesome, awesome. Let's get going."

Luke could see – hell, he could feel – the anxiety rolling off of his friend, evident enough by the way his hands were strangling the grip of the air rifle. He took a step forward and took a grip of Kenny's shoulder. He could feel the tremble there.

"Take a breath, man," he advised. "You okay?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm good." Kenny gave him a bobbing nod. "I just really want this night to be done with. Then I want to wake up tomorrow, have a cup of coffee, bury myself in a pancake stack and try not to think about all this shit."

"Save me a seat," Kyan chuckled, tapping the baseball bat against his shoulder. He glanced at Kasper. "Gang's all here, man."

"Stay behind me." Kasper turned and trudged off up the path without another word, and the four college students quickly scrambled to keep up with him.

Luke quickly realised why everything felt so eerie here as they walked into the dark. It was too quiet. Their footsteps crunched weakly against the dirt track, but there was no ambient noise, not this far from Lasquette. No humans, but also no wildlife. Even the wind seemed to have taken the night off, leaving them sneaking along in an uncomfortable silence.

Ahead of them light danced on Kasper's body and occasionally he would pause, brushing a hand across a nearby tree trunk or running his fingers through leaves. The ethereal glow of the Karkadda lingered in his wake. He must have been trying to track the others, Luke supposed, but he didn't want to ask. Somehow Kasper didn't seem in the mood to talk, his face a mask of intense focus as he led the way.

The path wound upwards, carving through the woodland from left to right and back again. Hills rose around them, and before long they found themselves moving through a kind of miniature valley, with tall trees looming wall-like on either side. Kasper didn't seem concerned, but Luke couldn't fight down the growing sense of apprehension in this strange wild place.

Flashlight in one hand, Hawkshot in the other, he forced himself onward. Gabi stuck close to him, periodically turning to cast her light backwards. Kenny kept the stock of his air rifle hugged against his shoulder, ready to whip up and fire a the slightest provocation. He moved by Kyan's light as the other body trudged along behind him, bat hanging loose in one hand as he lit the way. After a few minutes the incline of the path changed, now sloping back down through the forest, dropping them deeper into the hilly terrain south of Lasquette Bay.

Kasper suddenly stopped.

Instinctively, Luke froze. He held his breath without thinking, eyes flickering up and around into the gloom of the trees. The others halted, lights sweeping left and right. Seconds crawled by. Silence settled on them.

"Everything alright, big guy?" Kenny asked eventually through a nervous chuckle.

"We're not alone." Kasper made a sharp, chopping motion to the side of the path. "Get into the trees. Now."

Nobody argued. In an awkward, jumbled scramble they all followed him into the undergrowth. Luke's trainers slipped on wet leaves and he cursed himself for not owning a proper pair of hiking boots. Kyan caught his arm and helped him up the slope at the side of the road, pulling him along until they joined Kasper on a raised lip of land that looked down onto the dirt track. Around them the darkness pressed down oppressively.

"What is it?" Gabi hissed.

"Someone's moving out here," Kasper replied quietly. "I'm not sure..." He shook his head, pressing a hand against the earth, even as his eyes continued to scan the treeline.

Then something rustled behind them. Luke whirled around, shining his light into the shadows but finding nothing. He felt Gabi's hand clutch at the back of his hoodie as she tucked herself behind him. Kyan eased forward, pocketing his flashlight and taking a two-handed grip on the baseball bat. Kenny trained his air rifle on the direction the noise had come from; in the corner of his eye Luke saw the glimmers of light on Kasper's body as the Karkadda readied himself to change.

Then a shape emerged from the trees.

"Gyaaah, Jesus!" Kenny whipped the barrel of his air rifle skywards as the exclamation burst from his mouth. He screwed his eyes shut tightly and took a deep breath, before fixing the figure with a glowering stare. "What is wrong with you?! I almost shot you!"

Standing in front of them, Mercy raised an eyebrow.

Luke exhaled in relief and straightened up, smoothing down his hoodie as he looked at her. The Karkadda didn't look injured, but Luke could see the scuffs, scrapes and burns on her clothing that showed she hadn't gotten free of the trap without a close call of her own. Her normally glossy, hair was dishevelled and roughly bundled back behind her head in a single thick bunch.

"Mercy!" Kasper bounded forward and gathered her her into a fierce embrace. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." She sounded bone-tired, and her arms wrapped gratefully around Kasper's broad shoulders. "You're a sight for sore eyes." When they pulled apart, Mercy cast a dubious eye over the four humans, then shot Kasper a questioning look. "What are they doing here?"

"We're here to help," Luke said before the Karkadda could respond. "Kasper told us what happened; what the poachers are going to do. We're going to help you stop it."

"You brought them here?" she asked.

Kasper shrugged awkwardly. "I didn't know if anyone else got out. They're the only ones who know about us, about what's really happening."

"Well, this night just keeps getting better doesn't it?" Mercy scrubbed both hands over her face wearily.

"Sounds like you could use the help," Gabi chimed in. "Unless you'd rather it just be the two of you against all those poachers?"

"I didn't say that." She looked to Kasper again. "How'd you know to come here?"

"Poachers left a loose end on campus," he replied. "We persuaded her to tell us about this place."

"That's one word for it," Kenny muttered, fixing Mercy with a wary stare. "So, you managed to skip out of the fire-trap?"

"Just about." Her hands brushed absently at her scorched clothing as she spoke. "I'm not sure if anyone else managed to get loose. I was on the edge of the compound, managed to get past the fire before it closed around us. But then I couldn't get back in. I just had to wait."

Luke watched as a tremor of red light shimmered beneath her skin, the memories bringing her emotions boiling to the surface. Her jaw tightened and with an effort she controlled herself before continuing.

"There were too many for me to try and take on my own, but I followed them – tracked them out here." Mercy rubbed her eyes again, shoulders sagging slightly. Luke wondered when she'd last slept. "They've got a compound up there-," she flicked a thumb back over her shoulder, "I've been trying to find a way in. It's this big barn set up where they're going to..."

Mercy stopped abruptly. She cleared her throat; blinked.

"Can you take us there?" Luke asked quietly – he didn't need to hear the rest of that sentence. "Doesn't sound like we've got a lot of time."

She exhaled sharply and nodded. "Follow me, but turn those bloody flashlights off. They've got guards walking the perimeter."

"Err, how many guards?" Kenny asked.

"Twelve, maybe fifteen. It was hard to get an exact count." Mercy turned and beckoned them on. "C'mon, I'll show you."

Without their flashlights their trek in the woods suddenly became a lot more treacherous. Luke concentrated on just keeping his footing, with Gabi, Kenny and Kyan struggling along in a rough line beside him. The two Karkadda moved up ahead with greater ease, used to making their way through the woods in the dark, sure-footed as gazelles. They did, however, deign to let a small sliver of light ebb through the foliage to help their human companions see where they were going.

Mercy led them up a steep embankment and along a broad ridge packed with trees. The seemed to be running roughly parallel to the dirt track, as far as Luke could tell, but much higher up. He concentrated even harder, not wanting to take another tumble through the woodland; not tonight. There was too much at stake.

After a few more minutes of edging their way along in Mercy's wake, Luke finally caught sight of a light that wasn't coming from their guide. It was barely discernable at first, but as they drew closer he could make out the pale yellow glow seeping through the trees ahead of them. He saw Mercy and Kasper drop down into low crouches; Kasper looked back, indicating for the others to do the same.

Luke did as instructed, almost on his knees as he shuffled his way across the ridge. Kenny came next in their single-file line, one hand on Luke's back as they used each other for balance. Gabi came next, clutching a handful of Kenny's jacket; Kyan brought up the rear, on hand holding Gabi steady from behind as he moved.

They joined the Karkadda at a gap in the trees and looked down to find the poacher compound.

"Son of a bitch," Luke murmured, shaking his head in disbelief.

The place was huge. The dirt track they had been following emerged out into the clearing below them, broadening into a huge, mud brown smear lit up by floodlights. Sunk into the open, crater of space in the middle of the forest, the poachers' makeshift headquarters would be completely invisible from the roadside.

A large, rickety house stood off to the left, most of its windows dark, and to the right stood a massive barn of some kind. The thing was slapped together with uneven slabs of wood and sheet metal, with big windows and skylights and a low fence surrounding it. Several trucks were parked near the gaping main doors, and Luke could see dark figures moving in and out. He felt a tremor of fear when he saw that some of them carried what looked like hunting rifles. A faint hum of conversation floated up through the trees over the growl of a generator, but he was too far away to make out any of the words.

Some of the figures went back inside, leaving a handful of guards who dispersed to the edges of the fence, striding disinterestedly back and forth. The barn doors slid closed, but just before they banged shut, Luke caught a glimpse of the figures within – a long line of people on their knees. Then they were sealed away. He felt sick with anger. Oaklynn was down there somewhere in that slaughterhouse.

"Well, step one done," Kenny remarked, lying down on his belly at the edge of the ridge. "We found the assholes. Now what?"

"We save our people," Mercy replied.

"Yeah, I know." He shot her an irate glance. "I meant more like, what's the plan for doing that?"

"There are always four rotating guards that walk the outside perimeter," Mercy continued, ignoring his sharp tone as she pointed at the men and women outside the barn. "There are eight more people inside. Some of them are on the top level – just guards ready to shoot anyone who tries to make a break for it. The rest are there to do the killing." Her expression darkened, lips pursing in thought. Then she looked down the line at the four humans.

"What do you need?" Luke asked. "Just tell us what do do."

"We're not going to risk fighting them all ourselves," she told him. "There are a lot of Karkadda in there. If you can cause a distraction, Kasper and I can break in and set them loose. Once enough of our people get free we can handle the rest of poachers ourselves." She cast her eyes over Luke and the others pointedly. "Don't take any risks, okay? I am grateful for your help, but I don't want any of your blood on my conscience."

"Well, nobody wants that," he muttered. "So by distraction you mean..." He patted his Hawkshot bag with one hand.

Kasper nodded at them. "How far can you shoot those things?"

"They've got a range of about fifty yards, if you want to hurt someone," Gabi answered, and Luke heard a hardening in her voice. Faced with the sick reality of what was happening, her instinctive response wasn't fear anymore. It was anger.

"Mine's about the same," Kenny said, patting his air rifle with one hand. "Whatcha thinking?"

"We'll find you three a good vantage point," Mercy said. "When we signal, try to take out the guards."

"Take them out," Luke repeated. "As in...?"

"You don't need to kill anyone, but if you can hurt them, cause some noise, anything – that will be enough."

"What about me?" Kyan asked.

"You come with me," Kasper replied. "I'll explain on the way."

At that moment a blood-chilling scream echoed out from down in the valley, piercing wood and glass with ease. Luke's heart jerked in horror as he saw a faint flare of blue-white light from within the barn, blazing through one of the windows for a couple of seconds before fading away to nothingness.

"No more waiting," Mercy snarled. "Let's finish this."