Heart of a Mortal

Part One: Melting the Ice

I drove down an old, narrow road, tapping the steering wheel as I screeched along to some country song on the radio. I smiled to myself. "Shut up." I told the radio as I pressed the play button on my phone. I sighed in relief as my new favorite rock song blared over the speakers. Country music was one of the things I just couldn't get into when I'd moved down south. I hummed along to the song as the landscape passed by outside. I turned down a small trail that led farther into the forest. My truck bumped along on the rough trail, the tires grinding loudly through the soil and rocks. I sang along absentmindedly, looking out the window.

The trees stood tall and I rolled down the window to take in the wind and the smell of freshly washed leaves. It had stormed heavily last night but only for a little while. The woods were a lush green and the clay soil shone red in the sun and sparkling water. I took in a deep breath, feeling like everything had been washed clean and the air was a million times fresher than the night before. I drove for a few more minutes, getting close to my favorite spot. I was about two minutes away when I noticed something. I turned the music down and brought the truck to a stop. The forest was dead silent. No birds, no frogs... Nothing. It would always quiet down when I drove through but nothing was ever silent. I narrowed my eyes at the closest tree and decided this was especially suspicious. I could still hear the stream a little ways to my left but it was almost like every animal had just disappeared overnight. Nothing looked amiss... Except the smoke?

"Campfire." I muttered to myself. Or idiot teens again. Sometimes they came out here to party and more than once I had put out the smoldering remains of a fire. They left it sometimes to burn the last of their evidence. Groaning, I cut the engine and leaned over to open the glove compartment. I grabbed my gun, muttering that I really shouldn't feel the need to have this. But the world was crazy and with that recent story of a giant hammer-wielding psycho in New Mexico, I wasn't messing around with weird occurrences.

My sister would look pointedly at me if she was here. "I dunno why you live in the boonies if you want to feel safe." She'd say.

Locking my truck, I shoved my gun in my waistband and crept through the trees. "Yo, anybody out here?" I called. "Don't want any trouble, just checking the smoke." No response. I glanced back to the truck and then turned back. The trees were starting to thin. Some were blown back or cracked, some fallen and burned. I was suddenly very thankful for the weight in the back of my jeans. I swallowed and checked behind me again. "Anybody out here?"

Weird crazy giant claiming he was a god. That's what some articles said. Said he crashed without a ship. Jesus, tell me I wasn't walking into an alien encounter. Tell me the crazy articles my last student's parent was blabbing around weren't true! The woods gave way to a burned crater. I looked around, listening. Nothing. Had there been a meteor last night? Meteors were good. Meteors were normal. I looked down and saw a figure lying unconscious - or dead- beside a rock.

Well there go my hopes for sanity. Normal or not, I couldn't leave him. I slid down the slope, running to him. "Hey!" I called. I slid to a stop beside him and fell to my knees, flipping him over. I winced as I did so, realizing I could have hurt him. Bending down, I put my ear to his chest and sighed as I heard a faint heartbeat. It was quiet but at least steady. I leaned back, frowning slightly as I saw what he was wearing. A long leather coat and some weird green and gold... kind of armor? I shook my head and decided to think about it later. I felt his legs and moved up to his ribs, checking for injury. Nothing I could feel. He had some bad gashes on his face and hands but nothing deep or bleeding heavily.

Scrambling for my phone, I dialed the police.

"911, what's your emergency?" A calm woman answered.

"Uhh, yeah, crazy but I just found a guy in the woods and there's a crater and he's unconscious."

"Can you give me the nearest address to these woods?"

"Yeah-" A hand grabbed my shirt. "Jesus!" I screamed, jerking away. I snatched my gun from my jeans and snapped the safety off. "He's awake! And crazy looking!"

A pair of wide, emerald green eyes stared up at me. The man shook his head. "Stop." He croaked.

"Ma'am?" The woman called.

"Stop." He said again. Lowering the phone, I pointed the gun at his chest.

"You okay? Hurt?" He moved slowly, groaning and shaking his head.

"Please don't tell anyone." He whispered.

"Ma'am!"

I pulled the phone back to my ear. "Never mind. He's uh... He's okay." I hung up, slowly sliding my phone away. I lowered the gun and cleared my throat. "Hey um... let me help you." I slid my other arm around his back, trying to help him sit up. He gasped and arched away. I pulled back and stared at him. He glared at me, silent now. Finally, sighing heavily, he lifted himself and rose to his feet.

My mouth dropped open. Obviously, he had something to do with this crater. I came here at least multiple times a week and I knew this was never here. So how could he stand so easily? I got up, tightening my grip on my gun. He was huge...The man swayed and his eyes fluttered closed. He groaned softly and stumbled. I caught him, gasping with the weight. Skinny? Yes. Light? Nope. His eyes flashed open and he pushed away from me, glaring. I glared back.

"Well, if you want to die here or whatever, be my guest. I was going to help you but..." I shrugged. His eyes softened and a small smirk rose on his lips. "You sure you're okay?" I asked. He hummed a yes. I nodded slowly, shifting. "Okay well uh, bye." I started backing away, hoping he wasn't going to follow.

"Wait." He said. He started to hold up a hand but winced and dropped it. I paused. "I... Where..." He swallowed and frowned, opening his mouth again slowly. I felt my brows raise up. Maybe he had brain damage. His eyes started to roll back and he groaned low in his throat. I stumbled forward, wrapping an arm around his waist and letting him slump onto my shoulder.

"Slow down. Okay you can't go anywhere. I'm gonna help you to my house but you have to swear you won't do anything crazy."

He huffed and I felt him smile against my shoulder. One hand gripped my arm. "You have a weapon and I can barely walk." He said dazedly. "I couldn't do you harm if I wished. Which I don't." He added after a tense moment.

Nodding, I put the safety on and slid my gun back into my waistband. I maneuvered him so he was leaning on my side. Wrapping his arm around my neck, I nodded towards the slope. "I'm this way."

He sighed. After a moment, he fell into step with me. I noticed him glancing at me from time to time but I tried to ignore it. We limped slowly up the crater and through the trees. Halfway to the truck, he spoke.

"Your name." He murmured. I nearly stumbled. His voice, now that it had lost that drowsy slur, wasn't very deep but there was some sort of confident growl underlying it and an accent I couldn't place. The growl was what startled me. I looked over at him, keeping my composure.

"Ebony." I replied. "Gray. Call me Eb." He looked me over.

"Black and grey. Fitting." I flicked my grey eyes to his green ones, watching him scan my face and take in my black hair. "You ask no questions, Ebony." He said this as though he was confused yet not enough to really care. I bit my lip. "Where is this?"

"North Carolina. Not far from Cornelius... Sure you're okay?"

"North Carolina... Where is that?"

"The US..." I raised a brow. He could have a concussion.

"Earth, as you call it. Fine." He nodded to himself. I blinked but decided not to say anything. Of course this was Earth. And what did he mean as I call it? Jesus, maybe he was an alien! We walked in silence, partially because I was scared of his mental state and partially because he was concentrating on putting one foot in front of another. He was sweating and panting now but tried to be quiet about it.

He got in the truck just fine so I went around to the driver's side. Turning the truck around, I drove back home, a fifteen minute drive. Five minutes in, I turned on my music. I checked to see if that was okay. The man seemed too lost in his thoughts to notice. I sighed and looked back to the road.