Feather and Flame

Prologue

He could hear and feel the blood pounding in his head as he desperately clung to the rock. The feeling of gravity dragging him down by his feet was inescapable and his legs flailed helplessly below. His left shoe started slipping off and he yelped in fear as his panic spiked, trying to focus only on the softness of her voice. She sang soothingly in his ear, promising that everything would be alright but he just couldn't believe her, she had come into his life so soon and now he had to leave her behind. "This has to be the end" he whispered to himself and slowly peered over his shoulder. He stifled a cry as he saw the expanse of cliffs around him, the long drop down into a darkness he couldn't crane his neck enough to see, the sound of water rushing nearby told him that a waterfall was below him jutting out of the rocks and he would die drowning. She pulled his face up to meet hers, tears stained her cheeks but she smiled bravely which eased some of his fear. A small rock dislodged causing him to jerk downward, his stomach flipped and they both gasped, she clutched his hands as tight as she could but there was no strength to pull him from his death. For a moment all they could feel was the wind blowing between them stinging their cheeks, the sound of a roaring river and the cry of an eagle overhead. Phoenix looked up at the eagle, trying to both savour every moment and draw strength from its beauty, then he stared lovingly into Veda's eyes.

"Kiss me" He demanded, her lips touched his and a sob escaped her mouth. He took it all in one last time, the smoky scent of her long dark hair and the coldness of her pale cheeks.

"Can you hear the winds song?" he said staring into her brown eyes.

Then he flung himself from the cliff, her screams echoed through the darkness.

Chapter 1

The music was still thumping loudly throughout the house and Phoenix was surprised the neighbours hadn't complained. He was dancing in the living room of his small flat, with the third girl of the night grinding suggestively on his hips. He didn't remember her name and he'd delete her number from his phone as soon as he could, he liked to think of it as his trick to a stress free life. The room was packed, hot and sweaty with around thirty people dancing in close proximity and thoroughly intoxicated. Being a tall guy, he peered over the heads of everyone there and saw the faint glow of orange through the blinds of his window, it must be around six in the morning and he had to leave the house at nine. His mother had wanted him to arrive early. Everyone cheered as they saw the sun rising and rose their drinks in the before downing them within seconds, sun rise meant it was time for more drink and more drugs. Phoenix shoved the girl he was dancing with out of the way, now he couldn't even remember what he had been doing for the past hour and and thought it was definitely time for another bump. He left the room and headed down the hallway, the hiss of beer cans being opened echoed behind him and he pushed through the line of people standing in the hallway bursting for the toilet. Finally he stumbled into his room, two of his best mates sat on his bed talking and a boy neither of them knew lay sprawled on the far side of the room.

"Yea we chucked him off, was taking up too much space" said Cosmo once he saw his friend's puzzled face "We checked to make sure he's still breathing!" Jason added.

Cosmo was very tall, dark haired and very skinny. His eyes seemed to have every shade of colour in them but were mostly blue and resembled outer space with specks of planets in them. This had earned him a nickname after the cosmos; all he could say was that his parents were Russian. Jason on the other hand was a short, stumpy looking boy with bright blond hair and blue eyes. His cheeks always flushed red as he tried desperately to be the group comedian, whereas Cosmo was calm and collected. They were total opposites and made a good pair. Phoenix chuckled to himself and pulled out his wallet, sat at his desk leaning as far back into the chair as possible and chucked the contents out onto the table. "So what'll it be guys, Charlie, MD, Amp?"

 The thin plastic see-through packets glistened on the wooden table, an assortment white and yellowish powders scattered inside of them.

"I can't, I got school in two hours!" Jason groaned, his innocent eyes averted from the drugs not wanting to even look at them.

"Aw poor baby Jason can't handle two days in a row" Cosmo mocked but Phoenix shot him a hard look and he stopped. Jason was two years below them and at only sixteen he was still in sixth form, full time education. Bleh. "No you're right Jase, I have somewhere to be and I don't want to be tripping balls later. That rules out Ket and MD" He removed the powdered ecstasy and ketamine from the desk and placed them back in his wallet. "