The Soda Man

I woke up with a start, bolting upright. The pair of gray eyes from my dream were etched into my brain. That was the third time I've seen those eyes in my dreams this week. They haunted me wherever I went, whether to school or for a walk to clear my head. I saw them everywhere. 

I tried to steady my breathing and looked around. I was in my room, the sun peeking through the blinds on my windows. The light illuminated a dark shadow with a gray eye staring at me. I stifled a scream when I saw a mouth full of teeth grin at me. I lunged for my throwing knives on my nightstand. I turned and chucked one at the shadow. 

It didn't move as the knife stuck into the wall with a thunk, less than an inch from their head.

"Your aim is going to have to be better than that if you want to hit me," the shadow said. As my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I saw that the shadow was a boy around my age—maybe a couple years older—leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He had tanned skin like he was from Aura Thesauma. His hair covered part of his face, obscuring his other eye. He wore a black shirt and matching jeans, and I saw rings of all colors on his fingers. 

"Who-what are you?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"'What' is a little hurtful," the boy said, his expression unchanging, which unnerved me. "'Who' is a much better question. And the answer to that question is Cola." I stared at him. "My name's Cola, kid. What's yours?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"That's fair. Well, if you don't, I won't know if you're the person I need to find. And if you're not the person I need, I've screwed up."

"W-What's the name you need?"

"Lincoln." 

My blood ran as cold.

He smirked. "By the face you're making. I'm gonna hazard a guess that that's your name." He reached up and pulled my knife free from the wall. He flipped it in his hand carelessly. "Nice to meet ya, Lincoln. We've got to get going. They'll be coming for ya." 

"Who?"

"Let's see." He tapped the blade against his chin. "It could be empousa, or cyclopes, or cerastes, or harpies, or centaurs, or aeternae, or chimeras, or gegenees, or griffins, or hippogriffs, or manticores, or hydras, or Laestrygonians—I could go on." 

"Nah," I said, feeling sick. 

He stepped away from the wall and walked over to me. I pushed myself away from him, thinking he was going to grab me, but he merely held the knife out for me. I took it from him gingerly.

"Let's get going, Link," he said, turning to the window. "Zariah'll have picked up the other one by now."

"Picked the other what up?"

Cola glanced at me, a hint of a smile on his face. "Godling, Link. You're a Godling. Like me." He pulled something out of his pocket and flicked it at me. I flinched as a small white card nearly hit me in the face. I picked it up and stared at it.

"S-Spyro Searcher L-License," I read off. "Name: Cola Arian. Father: Sebastian. Who's Sebastian?"

"My father." 

"And who's Spyro?"

"Keep reading."

I glanced back down at the card. "Time left until recall: 10:35:26."

I stared at the last line. 

10:35:25

10:35:24

10:35:23

"How?"

"Magic."

I swore at him. 

"Hey, don't say that to me," he said, leaning out my window. "I'm just telling ya what they told me." 

"Who's 'they'?"

He shook his head, and his hair moved to reveal another gray eye. "Do you ever not ask questions?" He didn't give me any chance to answer. "They were the people who found me and brought me to Glasseia. One of 'em ain't there anymore, but that's not the point. We gotta get going." He leaned back and fell out of my window. 

Before I could scream, my door opened, and my older brother peeked his head through, his brown hair catching the light. 

"Yo, who're you talking to in here?" Wally asked. 

"No one," I said quickly, glancing at the window and then back at Wally. 

He shrugged. "Whatever. Not my problem. Mom wants to know if you'll be walking to school or want a ride."

"Uhh." I glanced at my window again and saw Cola's eyes staring at me. "I-I'll walk today, Wally. Uhh, can you tell mom and your dad?"

"Yeah. See ya later, bro." He closed my door. I waited until his footsteps faded away to go to my window. 

"I'm on the second floor!" I exclaimed, seeing Cola standing on the ground, looking absolutely fine. "How are you alive?"

"The same way I got up there in the first place," he said with a maniacal smile. "C'mon down, Link. We need to go meet up with Zariah."

"How am I supposed to get down?" 

"Jump."

"I'll break my legs!" 

"I'll catch you. Probably. How much do you weigh?"

"You're not helping!"

"Jump, Link," he encouraged. It didn't work. "It's not gonna kill you, kid. Trust me."

I grimaced as I readied myself to jump. I remembered I needed to wear actual clothes when I felt the wind on my bare chest. I leaned away from the window and started rushing around my room. I don't know what it was about this kid, but I didn't want to annoy him. I slipped on a shirt and threw on some pants before rummaging through my nightstand. I grabbed my knives and put them in my right-hand pocket. I went back to the window and peered out. Cola was still standing out there. 

"C'mon, slowpoke! You're taking forever!" 

"Okay, okay!" I exclaimed. "Just… give me a second."

"You've had multiple seconds!" 

I groaned in annoyance. Cola grinned at me.

"Are you sure you can catch me?"

"If you want me to."

"Please." Before I could change my mind, I jumped from my window. I shut my eyes tightly as the wind whistled in my ears, waiting for the brutal impact of the ground, but I hit something else. I opened my eyes. Cola was grinning at me. He actually caught me.

"H-How?" I asked, amazed and terrified at the same time. 

"I'm strong," was all Cola said. He set me down on my feet. "Now that you're down, let's get going. We need to meet up with Zariah."

"Who's Zariah?"

"My partner."

"Partner? For what?" 

"For picking up Godlings like you."

"What like me?" I asked, thinking I hadn't heard Cola right. 

"Godlings," Cola repeated. "The children of the gods. You're one of them."

"I think I'm going to throw up."

"Why?"

I shook my head. "I can't be...that. I'm normal."

"And I'm sane. Let's get going, kid. There isn't much time, and we gotta be at Glasseia in," he pulled out another one of those magic cards, "10 hours and 29 minutes. No time to waste." He started walking down the street. 

"Hey, wait!" I called after him. "You haven't explained everything yet!" I jogged after him.

"Yes, I did," he countered, turning around to talk to me as he walked backward. He counted on his fingers as he said, "I said you're a godling, I said we have a limited amount of time to get to Glasseia, and I told you who I was. That's everything."

"No!" I shook my head. "It's not!"

"What'd I miss then?"

"What's Glasseia? Who are you exactly? What are you? What is a godling?"

"Calm down, boy," said a feminine voice behind me. I jumped, making someone snort. I turned and saw two girls standing there. One had dark skin and pitch-black hair and wore a black T-shirt and jeans. I didn't fail to notice the knife sheathed to her belt. The other girl looked more normal than the other two in that she looked as frazzled as I felt. She had dark curly hair, gray eyes, and light skin. 

"Who are you?" I asked.

"That's Zariah," Cola provided. "My partner. I don't know the other girl, though. Who are you?" He stepped forward, almost getting in her face.

"Personal space, Cola," Zariah told him, pushing him back with an arm. "This is Kayla Wendell. My charge."

"Hold up," Kayla interrupted. 

"Who's up?" Cola asked. Both Kayla and I looked at him incredulously.

"It's an expression." Kayla turned to Zariah, who was making me extremely nervous by running her fingers over the hilt of her knife. "You found me and kidnapped me five minutes ago. I don't know what you mean by 'charge,' but I'm certainly not that." 

Zariah's right eye twitched. "Would you rather I used the term 'captive'?"

"Yes! That way, people can figure out I'm not here by choice!"

"You're here because what we have to offer is the safest option for you," Zariah said coldly. "Would you rather be kidnapped or killed?"

"Neither!"

"If I may-" I started, but both girls whipped towards me, and I did not like the look in their eyes. 

"What?" They both snapped at me. 

"Why don't we do this where we won't get the police called on us?" I suggested. "I'd rather not get arrested for disturbing the peace."

"I could care less about that!" Kayla yelled. "Get everyone involved! I don't want to be here, and she," she pointed at Zariah, "kidnapped me from my bedroom!" 

"I expected nothing less," Cola said, examining his rings. "Anyway, let's get going. Spyro wants us back by tomorrow at the latest, and I rather like being punctual."

"I'm not going anywhere!"

Zariah sighed. "Grab the kid," she said. Cola grabbed me and dragged me towards Zariah, who had grabbed Kayla by the wrist.

"Hey!" we both shouted.

Cola and Zariah clasped hands, and suddenly we were pulled into the darkness. My vision was covered in blackness. There was nothing. No light, no ground, not even Cola, who was pushed up against me. Voices flitted in and out of range as if we were traveling at high speeds. And it was cold. Colder than ice. There was no warmth here, no light, no sense of direction. 

But then, as fast as we had entered it, we left it. I stumbled before collapsing to my knees, stomach churning. I bent down and pressed my head against the cool grass and dirt as I held my stomach. 

"You'll get used to the feeling, Lincoln," Cola said, slapping me on the back. It took everything I had not to vomit. 

I glanced to my left and saw Kayla lying on the ground, appearing out of breath. She had one arm covering her eyes, and the other flung out to her left. Her hair was spread out over the grass, contrasting the lightness of the green and dark of her hair. 

"Stand up," Zariah ordered from behind me.

"Give us a—" I stopped to swallow. "A second."

"Ugh, weaklings," she muttered. "Can't believe we're tasked with saving you."

"You did sign up for this," Cola commented. "So technically, it's your fault for being here."

"Shut up."

A few moments later, I sat up on my knees. "What was that?" I asked, looking up at Cola. 

"That was Shadow Walking," he said. "Zariah's able to walk through shadows and end up somewhere completely different. She can usually control where we're going, but if she's too tired, she'll end up somewhere like Chloris. And if she makes too long of a trip or too many in a row, she'll run out of energy."

"Cola!" Zariah shouted.

"What?"

She unsheathed her knife and pointed it at him. "You don't need to be telling them my weaknesses!" She got closer and pressed the tip to his throat. "I should kill you for this!"

Cola shrugged, unbothered by the black blade at his throat. "He asked, so I answered." He grabbed the knife between two fingers and moved it away from his throat. "Besides, we both know you can't kill me, Z. You don't have it in you." 

Zariah growled. "Just because you're a Primeval Born doesn't mean you're invincible."

"Oh, no. Quite the opposite, really. You remember Callum, right?" Zariah growled. "Yeah, you do. He proved we weren't invincible." He put his hands behind his head and interlaced his fingers. He looked up at the sky, then around us. "Where'd ya take us, Z?"

"Don't call me that." She sheathed her knife before crossing her arms. "We're in Khada. Where we're supposed to be."

"Oh, so we're meeting up with the others."

I sat on my heels, still feeling a little nauseous. "Others?"

"Searchers," Cola provided. "Just like how we were tasked with finding and rescuing you, two others were tasked with finding others like you. Godlings that are in danger." 

"Or stupid enough to get themselves killed," Zariah muttered. 

"That's why we are here."

"Hooray," Kayla groaned. 

I turned my attention away from Cola and Kayla and looked around. It looked like we were in a park. A ton of trees were dotted around, providing some shade, though most of them had no leaves. It was winter. The area Kayla and I had collapsed in was right in the sun, too. A few paths twisted and turns through the trees. There were flower beds at some of the curves of the paths, and I saw a gazebo through the trees. The flowery smell made my nose itch, but it was covered up by the smell of approaching rain.The path we were closest to led to the road that separated the park and a grassy area where a large temple stood.

"Why are we here?" I asked. 

"The others are somewhere nearby," Zariah said. 

"They're over there," Cola said, pointing to a temple-like building. It was covered in stone carvings, and the pillars in the front were polished white. In front of the building were a few cars in the parking lot. Cola was pointing at the one where a dark-haired girl was sitting on the hood with another girl while two guys were digging through the trunk. "C'mon. Let's go see them." Before any of us could protest, he started his way over there. We had no choice but to follow him.

"Cola!" the shorter boy said as Cola approached them. "Hey, man!" He clapped Cola on the shoulder. "How you been, man? Any problems?"

"Nope," Cola answered cheerily. "Though I think Zariah is mad at me."

"Zariah is always mad."

"I am not," Zariah grumbled, crossing her arms again. 

"I disagree." The dude turned to Kayla and me. His ice-blue eyes were warm and inviting, and his smile was kind. He waved as he said, "Hi, I'm Ricardo, but you can call me RJ. Sorry if this is confusing to you, but I promise you, it's for your safety."

"That's what I told them," interjected Cola, leaning on RJ. 

"I'm sure you did." RJ faced me. "What's your name, kid?"

"Uh, it's… it's Lincoln." I bit my cheek. I had no idea why I told him my name when I as so hesitant with Cola. He was so…comforting. It was like his presence was calming my nerves. 

He smiled at me. "Nice to meet you, Lincoln. And you, lovely lady?" 

Kayla blushed. "I'm Kayla."

"It's a pleasure." He jabbed his thumb at the taller boy and said, "This is Eli. Don't let his menacing demeanor put you off. He's actually a nice guy. Has saved my life more than once."

"It's what friends do," the other boy—Eli, said. He thumped RJ on the back before looking at us with his orange eyes. His eyes rested on me, making me feel uncomfortable. Finally, he said, "I'm glad there were no problems. Did Cola and Zariah explain everything?"

"If by 'everything' you mean 'nothing at all,' then yes," Kayla answered, glaring at Zariah, who huffed. 

"That's to be expected," RJ said. He clapped his hands together. "Well, you're Godlings. Children of the gods, which are real. We're here to take you to a safe place—the city of Glasseia."

"I've heard that name before," Kayla said. "In my history class. Mr. Carson said that it was the mythological city of the gods. It disappeared thousands of years ago when humanity turned their backs on the gods."

"That's… pretty accurate," Eli agreed with a frown. He crossed his arms, revealing that his left hand was bandaged. "The gods hid Glasseia after mortals began questioning their sovereignty and immortality. I believe it was Liam Albert who said, 'Who is to say they are truly immortal? If they bleed, they may be killed.'"

"As we explained to them," RJ gestured to the three girls who stood nearby, "the gods you will meet aren't all-powerful, but they are powerful enough to kill you without thinking much of it. Try not to piss them off."

"And you said this place was safe?" Kayla asked with a raised brow. 

"Better there than in the wild," Cola told her seriously. "The Dark Gods created monsters that roam the world, looking for the blood of Godlings to feast on. In Glasseia, you will be safe."

"Doesn't seem like it," one of the girls muttered. 

"We'll keep you safe, Summer," Eli promised her. "You five just have to understand what you'd be facing when we get there. If you're lucky, you won't be like Cola and I." 

The girl sitting on the hood, who I now saw had bandages wrapped around her left thigh, frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Eli and RJ looked reluctant to answer, but Cola didn't have any problems saying, "The Ágioi don't like the Pankósmioi Dimiourgoí-"

"World Makers," Eli translated. 

"-and hate their children even more. I'm the son of the Óla Vlépoun-"

"All Seeing."

"-and Eli is the son of the Patéras tis Fotiás kai tou Págou."

"Father of Fire and Ice." Eli frowned. "Yes, my father is also the father of the gods of fire and ice. The Ágioi generally don't like him cause he's a Titan, making me Titan Born. But that doesn't matter right now, because we are hoping to Arturo you aren't like me. Now come on, we don't want to keep Atana waiting."

He began walking towards the temple-like structure. RJ grimaced as he began following. He looked at the bandaged girl, who was now standing on crutches. He pointed to the girl who had yet to speak and said, "Did she understand all that?"

The girl nodded. "Lili's good at reading lips, and I filled her in on what she didn't catch."

RJ nodded. "Cool."

"What's up with him?" Summer asked, nodding at Eli, who had reached the temple steps. 

RJ grimaced again. "It's… complicated. There's a type of… racism, I guess you could say, that goes around in Glasseia. Godlings generally shun Titan Borns and Primeval Borns. Make them feel subhuman. Eli's taken the brunt of it lately, being the oldest Titan Born there. He shields the others from most of it, but it gets to him sometimes. Especially when his father is brought up."

"Why? What's the beef there?"

RJ shook his head. "Not my story to tell. And it's not yours to tell either, Cola," he added as Cola opened his mouth.

Cola shrugged. "If you say so." He thumped me on the back, making me lurch forward. "Onward, Lincoln! Glasseia awaits!"