IN HIS DEFENSE

By the time the Zephyr arrived at Iron Bridge Academy the next morning, a dozen Templar military airships had assembled in the skies overhead. There were destroyers, battleships, and aircraft carriers, but instead of patrolling the high seas, they were hovering in the air as the rumble from their Merlin TECH engines made the earth tremble.

There was talk of canceling school, but Iron Bridge was the safest place in New Victoria, and probably in the world. The Zephyr had been crawling with Templar soldiers assigned to protect the students, and as Max stepped out of the subway depot and onto the front lawn, he saw soldiers stationed at every door.

Clusters of students stood with necks craned so they could watch the spectacle in the sky. Sprig was resting comfortably as a chinchilla in Max’s jacket pocket. She stirred when he accidentally knocked into Winston Ainsworth, the boy who had asked Max for his autograph after Max had helped save the six changelings from slavers.

“Sorry,” Max said.

“No problem,” Winston said. His eyes were focused on the sky like everyone else’s.

Max weaved through the throng, trying not to bump into anyone else. It wasn’t easy. With all the fog, it was hard to see.

“Does anyone know why there are warships flying over our school?” Max heard Todd ask. He was standing in the middle of a flower garden while an angry garden gnome attempted to push Todd’s boot off a patch of tulips.

“Maybe they’re looking for Strange,” Ross said.

“With the navy?” Todd asked.

Ross shrugged.

“Wait,” Todd said as his eyes lit up. “Maybe we’ve been attacked by an army of clockworks. Did you bring the camera?”

“Yeah,” Ross said. “Let’s go.”

Max shook his head as the Toad brothers ran toward the school, hoping to take snapshots of invading clockworks on the rampage when they probably should have been running for their lives.

“There you are,” Harley said, sounding out of breath.

“What’s wrong?” Max asked.

“Ernie’s in trouble.”

“He’s here?”

Harley nodded. “The changelings have him cornered near the fountain by Sendak Hall.”

Max didn’t wait for Harley to finish. He took off, with Harley right behind him. They skirted the crowd and ran up the hill that led to the building where the changelings spent most of their time. Sprig wasn’t happy about getting jostled.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she poked her head out of the pocket to look around.

“It’s Ernie,” Max said. “We might need your help.”

Sprig yawned, not bothering to cover her mouth with her tiny paw. She skittered out of the pocket and up Max’s jacket to sit on his shoulder. “I can’t see them, but Sprig can feel the anger,” Sprig said.

Max couldn’t feel the anger, but he could hear the shouting. He twisted the ring on his finger to activate his gauntlet as Sprig leaped out and turned into a white tiger in midair. Max watched her tail undulate as he followed her up the path. Then he saw them.

Twenty changelings had gathered around Ernie like a pack of wild dogs. Many of them were even snarling as they pressed in. Natalia stood protectively in front of Ernie. Her eyes were narrowed as she exchanged verbal jabs with the changelings. She didn’t have any powers, but she wasn’t backing down.

Sprig roared, and the sound reverberated through Max’s chest. Changelings stumbled to get out of the way as the predator cat ran toward them. Sprig threw herself in the middle of the chaos. Her ears were pinned back, and her teeth were bared as she pawed at the air in warning.

“Get back!” she warned, her voice rising above the others.

“What’s going on?” Max asked as he pushed to reach Ernie. Someone shoved him in the back, and Max stumbled before he could see who it was. When he turned around, he was half expecting to see Smoke. Instead, he saw Tejan Chandra glaring at him.

Max paused. He had always gotten along with Tejan, but something had turned the changelings into an angry mob, and it looked like Ernie was the first target on their list.

“He’s a traitor!” someone shouted.

“Yeah, he’s just like Smoke!” another voice called out.

There was so much commotion that Max couldn’t tell who was talking, not that it mattered. It was clear that the changelings were of one voice. Yi was there, and so was Denton. Then Max saw Nadya and Geppetto. The only changeling Max didn’t see was Raven.

“Are you okay?” Max asked.

Ernie nodded, but he didn’t say anything.

Someone shoved Max into Natalia as Harley pushed through the crowd. Harley slipped past Max and grabbed Yi by his jacket collar. “What’s your problem?”

“You!” Yi said as his eyes sparked with flames.

Sprig roared as Nadya closed in.

“This is crazy,” Max said.

“I’m sorry,” Ernie said. “I didn’t mean to get you guys involved.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Natalia said. Her eyes were frantic, but she was standing her ground.

“Yeah, right,” Yi said. “He’s working with Von Strife, just like Smoke was.”

“Have you lost your mind?” Natalia asked.

“Then how do you explain what happened in Bludgeon Town? He led us into a trap.”

“Ross and Todd found those slavers, not Ernie,” Natalia said. “So are they working for Von Strife, too?”

“Probably.”

“I think you’ve fried your brain,” Natalia said.

Fire ignited in Yi’s hands.

“Knock it off, both of you!” Max said.

“Tell us where they are,” Tejan said through clenched jaws.

“Yeah, where’re Hale and Strange?” Laini, a changeling with bright pink hair and what looked like butterfly wings, cried out.

“We have to do something before this gets out of hand,” Max said.

“I think it’s too late for that,” Harley said.

Sprig threw her head back and roared.

“It’s going to take more than a tiger to beat us,” Yi said as he stood in the morning haze like a human torch.

“We don’t want to fight you,” Max said, “but we’re not going to let you hurt Ernie. Besides, why would we help Von Strife? Ernie’s a changeling, and he’s our friend. I’d like to think that we’re your friends, too.”

“How am I your friend?” Yi asked.

Max rubbed his forehead. “You’ve never given us a chance.”

“That’s because we don’t trust you,” Yi said. “You’re not one of us.”

“Ernie is, and he’s our friend,” Max said. “And you didn’t second-guess him when he helped you capture the other slavers, so why are you doing it now?”

“We didn’t know he was working for Von Strife,” Yi said. The comment was met with a murmur of agreement from the other changelings.

“Do you have any proof?”

Yi glared at Max, but he didn’t say anything. Max looked at the other changelings, waiting for them to give an account, but no one could.

“This is just what Von Strife would want us to do,” Max said. “We’re not going to bring him down if we’re fighting one another.”

“You don’t know what we’ve been through,” Nadya said. “I can’t go anywhere without wondering if someone is going to try to kidnap me…. None of us can. And how do the Templar decide to protect us? With these,” she said, pulling her hair back to show Max the inhibitor just above her ear. “They try to snuff out our powers so we can’t even protect ourselves.”

“That’s not Ernie’s fault,” Max said. “Neither are the kidnappings.”

“He’s right,” Raven said as she walked down the front steps of Sendak Hall to stand next to Max.

“What, you’re on their side?” Yi asked as the flames grew in his hands.

“Don’t be such a hothead,” Raven said, earning a smattering of laughter from the changelings.

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Yi asked.

“You’re doing a good enough job making a fool of yourself without me,” Raven said.

There was more laughter.

“Standing around here and arguing isn’t going to get Hale or Strange back,” Max said.

“He’s right,” Denton said, earning a reluctant murmur of agreement from a few of the others.

“Then if it wasn’t Ernie, who set us up?” Yi asked. He had supporters as well.

“We’re not sure, but we know where Von Strife is,” Harley said. “That’s why the ships are here. We’re going to war.”

Yi looked up to the sky. “Then they’re not here for us?”

“What? For the changelings?” Max asked.

“Yeah,” Yi said.

Max put one arm around Ernie’s shoulder and stroked Sprig’s neck. “They’d have to go through us first.”