Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by Grey Griffin Industries, LLC
www.greygriffins.com
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
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www.HachetteBookGroup.com
Visit our website at www.lb-kids.com
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
First eBook Edition: June 2010
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
ISBN: 978-0-316-08140-5
DEDICATION
Jon:
For Dwight K. Schrute, who understands that robots should be made with a six-foot extension cord just in case there is a robot uprising.
Derek:
To Ioulia & Noah: In deepest affection. As ever. Forever.
To Courtney Jeanne: The best Frank Hardy a Joe could ever have.
CONTENTS
Copyright
DEDICATION
THE GREY GRIFFINS
THE NIGHTMARE
PART ONE: IRON BRIDGE ACADEMY
1: THE UNMARKED PACKAGE
2: INTO THE DEEP
3: REACHING INTO THE PORTAL
4: A MESSAGE FROM THE GRAVE?
5: TRANSFERRING IS NEVER EASY
6: STICKING OUT IN A CROWD
7: THE TOAD BROTHERS
8: IRON BRIDGE
9: A CLOUD OF SMOKE
10: A LESSON IN FASHION
11: FAIR WARNING
12: CHANGELING QUARANTINE
13: CAUGHT IN THE ACT
14: HARLEY’S SECRET
15: SWAMP FIEND
16: GUILT BY ASSOCIATION
17: THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE
18: DOC TRIMBLE
19: BOOM FOOD
20: THE SIM CHAMBER
21: POPPING IN
22: MAX GOES ON A DATE
23: CIRCLE OF CONFUSION
PART TWO: THE CLOCKWORK CONNECTION
24: CAUGHT IN THE SPIDER’S WEB
25: NEW VICTORIA
26: THE VAN WYCK GUIDE
27: TRANSFORMATION
28: THE MENAGERIE
29: GONE IN A FLASH
30: DON’T FEAR THE REAPER
31: CONSEQUENCES
32: AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
33: THE INVITATION
34: SUSPENDED
35: AN UNUSUAL GUEST
36: THE CLOCKWORK KING
37: THE MIND OF OTTO VON STRIFE
38: BOUNDER CARE
39: ABDUCTED. AGAIN.
40: ROSENKREUZ LIBRARY
41: BREACH
42: ANSWERS
43: THE COMPETITION
44: RAVEN
45: LET THE GAMES BEGIN
46: ROUND ONE
47: ROUND TWO
48: HOW TO TRUMP A WAR MACHINE
49: DECISIONS
PART THREE: BRIMSTONE
50: A DANGEROUS PATH
51: THE BISHOP
52: OBADIAH STRANGE
53: A DRAGON RETURNS
54: HOPELESS
55: THEGRAF ZEPPELIN
56: A STRANGE BREW
57: TRAINING
58: DURBAN
59: THE BRIMSTONE FACILITY
60: VOLT VINES
61: A SECRET REVEALED
62: THE SECRET TO LIVING FOREVER
63: VISIONS
64: THE INFERNO PRISON
65: STRANDED
66: THE DREADNAUGHT
67: GOOD-BYE
68: TIRED OF BEING A VICTIM
THE GREY GRIFFINS
THE LEADER: Max Sumner
After his grandfather’s mysterious death, Max learned that his wealthy family was a part of the secret Templar society. He became the Guardian of the Codex Spiritus, an enchanted book that holds monsters, evil faeries, and other dangerous creatures captive within its magical pages. The Codex can change shapes, from a book, to a ring, to a gauntlet capable of channeling Max’s family power: Skyfire!
THE INVENTOR: Harley Davidson Eisenstein
Built like a linebacker and incredibly smart, Harley is a technological prodigy who designs gadgets critical to any successful monster hunt. Unlike Max’s wealthy family, Harley and his mother are barely getting by. But he’s not bothered; he knows that happiness isn’t measured by how much money you have in your bank account.
THE SLEUTH: Natalia Romanov
Fearless, fiery, and intensely smart, Natalia uses her keen observational skills and her analytical mind to solve any mystery. As a part of her sleuthing kit, Natalia carries a Phantasmoscope that allows her to see into the faerie spectrum. Since a close friend betrayed her, Natalia has had a hard time trusting other girls. She feels more at home with the Griffins than with anyone else.
THE CHANGELING: Ernie Tweeny
Ernie became a changeling after a transfusion of faerie blood, which gave him super speed, rapid healing, and enhanced eyesight. But there’s a catch: whenever Ernie uses his powers, he becomes more faerie and less human. Despite that risk, he has vowed to fight evil as his superhero alter ego, Agent Thunderbolt.
THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
The Knights Templar is an ancient society that has sworn to protect mankind against unseen dangers like monster invasions and zombie uprisings. In recent months, the Templar were nearly exterminated by an army of werewolves called the Black Wolf Society. They are slowly rebuilding their strength.
THE NIGHTMARE
TERRIFIED, MAX SUMNER FORCED HIMSELF TO WALK DOWN the long corridor. Water dripped from the ceiling, as an eerie light flickered through tattered sheets of plastic strung across the end of the hallway.
Max didn’t notice the fallen bicycle until it was too late. He tripped, cutting his shin. But he couldn’t turn back. Not now. The front wheel spun as he walked toward the light. When he finally reached the ragged sheeting, Max pushed it aside and stepped through. The temperature plummeted and breath rose from his mouth like a ghostly serpent.
Crunch…
Max looked down at a rotted yellow bag half-filled with decaying newspapers and swallowed hard. Then he heard the faint whistle of drills, and Max was certain that the stench in his nostrils was blood.
He passed a discarded sneaker, then a baseball cap with the name Johnny Geist written on the lining of the bill.
“Help me…” a small voice begged.
Max raced through the doorway ahead only to find an empty room. It was some sort of laboratory with rusty instruments and tools that lined tarnished trays. Glass jars filled with mysterious liquids crowded dilapidated shelves, and a faint red stain ran along the concrete floor toward a drain. A steel table with leather straps for hands and feet stood in the center of the room. Then Max felt a cold hand on his shoulder.
Max pulled away and turned to look into the eyes of a young boy. He was dressed in a striped shirt and jeans, with a lone sneaker on his left foot.
“Did you call me?” Max managed to ask. “Are you Johnny?”
The boy said nothing but continued to stare, unblinking. That’s when Max realized that instead of eyes, there were camera lenses in the boy’s
sockets. And worse, the veins in the boy’s pale arms were pulsing with a silver-blue glow. No matter where Max’s eyes fell, he found machinery in place of humanity. There wasn’t much left of the boy, but the single tear running down his silicon cheek was real.
Max’s stomach lurched and he tried to look away, but the same cold hand forced him to look back. This time the boy was gone. Ernie Tweeny, one of Max’s best friends, was standing in his place.
“Help me…” Ernie moaned through blue lips. Max stumbled back and fell against a tray of rusty instruments, sending them clanging to the floor. As Ernie walked into the light, Max saw that part of his friend’s skull had been cut away, revealing a mechanized brain of whirling gears ticking like a clock.
Max cried out as strong hands took hold of him from behind, lifting him into the air. He struggled against the invisible grip as his arms and legs were strapped to the table. A convex mirror hung over the table, and strangely, it wasn’t his own face looking back at him. Somehow Ernie had taken his place. Max fought to break free from the straps as a man in a stained lab coat walked into view. He was tall, with neatly combed silver hair, and as he turned to face the table Max’s blood froze. He would never forget those eyes. They were intelligent, cold, and as sharp as the scalpel he held in his gloved hand.
The man raised the gleaming instrument.
Max screamed. Then he woke up.
PART ONE
IRON BRIDGE ACADEMY
01
THE UNMARKED PACKAGE
Max Sumner pedaled his bike through the quiet streets of Avalon, Minnesota, trying to shake the nightmare from his head. He had been awake all night, too frightened to go back to sleep. The only thing keeping him from taking a nap was the last summer meeting of the Secret Order of the Grey Griffins. Max didn’t want to be late.
With school starting on Monday, the four friends had decided to spend their last day of summer vacation reading comic books and watching movies in their secret headquarters—a tree fort that Max decided to call the Griffins’ Aerie. Over the last year, Max, Harley Eisenstein, Natalia Romanov, and Ernie Tweeny had faced everything from leprechauns to six-armed ogres, and just about every monster in between. Their adventures had brought them closer than ever, but they were about to embark on their most intriguing quest yet—the Grey Griffins were transferring to a new school.
Iron Bridge Academy was a private military school run by the Knights Templar. The curriculum was designed to train students to combat unseen forces from the darkest of nightmares. The academy had been shut down for nearly a century, following an explosion that destroyed most of the buildings. Now the doors were opening again.
There were only two ways to be admitted into a Templar academy. The first was through birthright, which Max possessed. The Templar also chose individuals from the general populace who had extraordinary talent, intellect, and ingenuity, so Harley, Natalia, and Ernie were extended invitations as well.
By the time Max reached the Old Woods, Harley was already waiting for him.
“What are you doing?” Max asked as he set his bike down. Harley had a screwdriver in one hand. In the other, he held a palm-sized device with its electrical guts exposed.
“Just making a couple of adjustments,” Harley replied as he replaced the casing and screwed it back together. “It’s a tracking device.”
Harley handed Max a metal chip and told him to put it in his pocket. Harley then twisted a dial on his invention, and the dark screen flickered to life. Two flashing green dots instantly appeared. “That’s us.”
“What about Natalia and Ernie?”
“I gave them ID chips this morning,” Harley replied. “According to this little gizmo, they should be here right about… now.”
Max turned to find the other two members of the Grey Griffins coasting down the gravel road on their bikes. Natalia’s red hair was woven into braids that flew behind her. Ernie’s vintage World War I Army helmet bounced on his head.
“I thought you were excited about transferring to Iron Bridge,” Max heard Natalia say.
“I was, but King’s Elementary is the last normal thing in our lives,” Ernie explained. “Once we leave that behind, it’ll be nothing but a bunch of rigid rules.”
“Come on, Ernie, you know that’s not true,” Max said. “We’re going to accomplish things that we never dreamed we could do.”
“And what about all the other changelings at the academy?” Harley added. “You’ll finally be able to put together your own team of superpowered humans. It’ll be like a real-life comic book.”
“I never fit in anywhere I go,” Ernie complained. “Trust me, Iron Bridge isn’t going to be any different—changelings or not.”
Natalia sighed. “Look, Ernie. According to Brooke, we’re kind of famous.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious. Everyone at Iron Bridge thinks we’re heroes because we helped defeat the Black Wolf Society.”
Ernie smiled.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Max warned. “Brooke may be exaggerating.”
Brooke Lundgren was the only honorary member of the Grey Griffins. The boys wanted to make her membership official, but Natalia wasn’t quite ready to share the spotlight with another girl. Brooke knew that Natalia didn’t mean anything by it. A close friend had betrayed Natalia, so it wasn’t easy for her to trust other girls. Besides, Brooke had her own troubles. Her dad, Baron Cain Lundgren, had been given the directorship of Iron Bridge Academy. He had a reputation for being strict, and Brooke hoped that the other students wouldn’t hold it against her.
“I knew it was too good to be true,” Ernie sulked.
“What if I told you that my mom stocked the fridge with tons of junk food last night? Would that get your mind off school for a little while?” Max asked.
The Aerie was constructed of three separate buildings linked by suspension bridges and rope swings. It boasted air-conditioning, a cobblestone fireplace, a working kitchen, and hidden rooms with trick entrances. When the four friends reached the central building, Ernie scaled the ladder and pressed his thumb against a hidden sensor pad on the rafter. It had been installed as a safety precaution against prowling monsters. The lock on the door released with a click, and Ernie rushed straight to the refrigerator. In a matter of moments, his arms were overflowing with snacks.
“Hey, Harley, clear the table, will you?” Ernie asked as he tried to balance all the food.
“Clear it yourself,” Harley replied, sitting down to read through a stack of comic books. That’s when he saw the strange box wrapped in brown paper. It was unmarked, except for a faded Templar cross stamped on the top. “What’s in the package?”
“Maybe it’s our next assignment,” Max said. “I overheard someone talking about an infestation of Vampire Pixies.”
Natalia looked skeptical. “Since when do we get assignments in unmarked packages?”
Max shrugged as Ernie dumped the pile of food on top of the box.
“Ernest!” Natalia reprimanded. She began clearing away the snacks.
“What?” Ernie sat down and opened a bag of chips. “Did you expect me to hold that stuff forever? I have super speed, not super strength.” With that, he shoved a handful of chips into his mouth and started smacking away.
Max broke the seal and pulled out a simple wooden box. Curious, he flipped the latch and opened the lid. Inside was a red velvet sack tied with a length of golden rope. He started to untie it, but Natalia grabbed his arm.
“Wait.” She reached inside the box and pulled out a piece of paper. Written in looping script were the words WIND STEM TO FIND HIM.
“Wind the stem?” Harley read aloud. “What does that mean?”
Max opened the little sack and turned it upside down. “Let’s find out.”
An object fell into the palm of his hand. It was a brass beetle, no more than two inches long. A perfect symphony of etched brass and silver filigree, the mechanical creature sat unmoving.
&nb
sp; “That’s so supersonic!” Ernie said, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. As the self-proclaimed “world’s first real superhero,” Ernie had decided he needed a catchphrase. So instead of describing things as awesome or amazing, he called everything supersonic.
Overwhelmed by curiosity, Ernie grabbed the beetle. With his greasy fingers, he wound the stem several revolutions. Inside, a series of gears engaged, and the beetle started tick as if it were a pocket watch. When Ernie set the beetle on the table, small brass legs unfolded. Then the mechanism spread its wings and lifted into the air.
“Whoa!” Harley stepped back as it zipped by his head while circling the room. “What is that thing?”
“Quick! Close the windows!” Max called.
Unfortunately, the mechanical creature had already spotted an open window and flown into the forest.
Max jumped over a stack of comic books and ran toward the escape slide. “Don’t let it get away, Ernie! We’ll be right behind you.”
02
INTO THE DEEP
“It went in here!” Ernie shouted as he followed the beetle into the mouth of a tunnel that led beneath the forest floor. The mechanical creature hovered in place just out of Ernie’s reach. Then, as the other Griffins burst onto the scene, the beetle took off once again, leading them into the darkness.
They hurried through the slimy passageway but lost the beetle as they came to an intersection. There was no sign of where it had gone.
“Can you still see it?” Max panted, his lungs burning.
Harley glanced down at a blinking light on his navigation device. “I was able to tune this to the vibration of the beetle’s wings. It should be right through here…”
The ground started to shake as debris fell from the ceiling.
“Cave-in!” Ernie shouted.
Suddenly the floor fell away, and they dropped into the darkness.
Ernie slammed against something hard and started to slide. He clawed at the rock walls, but he couldn’t stop his momentum. The others were screaming as he rocketed down the underground slide, shooting over rises and around bends. Air rushed against him, nearly peeling his cheeks from his face. But just when Ernie thought that he was going to lose consciousness, he shot out of the tunnel and landed in a puddle of motor oil.
Grey Griffins: The Clockwork Chronicles #1: The Brimstone Key Page 1