THE INVITATION

Ernie wasn’t the only member of the Grey Griffins who’d chosen to hang out with new friends. Even though Natalia was upset, she decided to keep her plans with Brooke Lundgren, whose father was the director of Iron Bridge Academy. In the past, Natalia had been jealous of Brooke, but over the last few months the two had become fast friends.

While the girls went shopping in Bloomington, Harley headed into New Victoria with Monti McGuiness, a Templar inventor who had become something of a mentor to Harley. None of them extended an invitation to Max, so he sat alone at his kitchen table with a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a mug filled with milk.

Max lived in an enormous house on the shores of Lake Avalon. His family had more money than they could spend, but Max would have traded it all to bring them back together. His parents’ divorce had been devastating, and Max just wanted things to go back to the way they used to be.

Of course that would have been impossible. It was widely believed that his father was dead, the victim of an ancient dragon by the name of Malice Striker. Max missed his dad, but he was also angry. After all, his father had betrayed the Templar by joining a band of werewolves called the Black Wolf Society. Then he manipulated Max to help in his scheme to destroy the world.

Max sighed.

“What’s with the long face?” A man with short hair that blended into the stubble on his beard walked into the kitchen. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a tight-fitting sweater with a distressed griffin on the front. “Didn’t you catch the troll?” He tossed a paper sack onto the countertop and reached over to pluck a cookie off Max’s plate.

“Oh, hi, Logan,” Max said. “Yeah, we got it.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Logan said, his Scottish accent curling his words.

Logan was his bodyguard, but Max considered him family. He was also everything Max wanted to become. The Scotsman could hold his breath for over six minutes and punch through a brick wall, and he used to race Ferraris in Europe. However, what Max admired most was Logan’s confidence. The world could be crumbling down around him, and Logan wouldn’t flinch. Max wished he could be like that.

“Come on, then,” Logan said. “Give us the story, will you?”

Max sighed. “Well, Ernie blew us off again.”

“Is that so?”

“He told us he was too sick to go hunting, but he was actually hanging out with some of the changelings.”

“I suppose it makes sense,” Logan said. “They’re all running scared, so they’re probably relying on one another for support. I can’t blame them for that.”

“It’s just that… I don’t know. The Grey Griffins are supposed to support him. Besides, Ernie doesn’t seem like the same person anymore.”

“He’s not,” Logan said. “Change is a part of life.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” Logan said with a wry smile. “What about your other cohorts?”

“Natalia went shopping with Brooke, and Harley is somewhere in New Victoria with Monti.”

“Let me get this straight,” Logan said. “You’re upset because your friends are having fun without you.”

“When you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous.”

The Sumners’ plump housekeeper walked into the kitchen with an envelope in her hands. She stepped in front of Logan, ignoring the Scotsman, and handed it to Max. “I believe this is for you.”

“Thanks, Rosa.”

Max slipped his finger under the flap of the envelope. Then he pulled out a single piece of parchment with the Iron Bridge Academy coat of arms printed at the top.

Iron Bridge was a private military school run by the Knights Templar. Its students were trained to save the world from unseen dangers such as six-armed ogres, poltergeists, and savage werewolves.

“Very official,” Logan said. “What is it?”

“Apparently, I’m being transferred into a class called Archaeological Reconnaissance and Excavation.”

“Who’s the teacher?”

“It doesn’t say.” Max tossed the paper across the table. “With my luck, it’ll be Nipkin.”

“Maybe this will cheer you up,” Logan said. He grabbed the paper sack from the countertop and tossed it to Max.

“What is it?”

The bag crinkled and crunched as Max reached in to pull out a few packs of trading cards.

“Aren’t you getting a little old for that game?” Rosa said as she started preparing dinner.

“You’re never too old for Round Table,” Max said.

“I’d have to agree with the boy,” Logan said.

The trading-card game had originally been developed to teach children in the Templar community how to fight monsters and faeries without risk of injury. Over the centuries, children continued to play well into adulthood. Before long, games once played in the back of pubs became global tournaments.

Max opened the paper bag to dump the rest of the contents on the table. Each pack was wrapped in shiny foil. “Have they even announced the Clockwork Chaos expansion series?”

“I have a mate who works in the game-design department,” Logan said. “He agreed to give me a few packs in exchange for a bit of a favor.”

“Like what?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Logan said. “You need to learn how to take clockwork soldiers down. It starts with the cards, and then we’ll start training in the SIM Chamber. After that, we’ll see about a field test.”

“But we’ve already gone up against clockworks.”

“Trust me, Max. It’s only just begun.”