"Firewater!" I cry as soon as I see him. I run over and throw my arms round his neck, his feathers soft and slippery against my training suit. He greets me cheerfully, slightly bemused at my sudden affection, and we enter our encounter easily. His usual confidence and charisma are back, and though I can detect no trace of earlier's insecurity, I say anyway,

"I love you, Firewater." The comment surprises him, and I feel his confidence falter. "You know that right?"

Slightly shakily, he replies, "I love you too – Alex, what's wrong?"

I ignore his question, and instead say, "And I won't not love you because of something that's happened in your past." I step back from him so I can meet his eyes. "I know you're not ok, and you can tell me about it."

He turns his head away, looks at the floor. I sit down in front of him, like I did during our first encounter. "Firewater?"

"But will you stop loving me if I say I don't want to talk about it?"

"No! Firewater, of course not!" I want to leap up and hug him, but I know he wouldn't want that. So I stay sitting calmly on the cool ground. "Firewater, I will love you whatever you decide to do about this. I didn't come here to make you feel bad. I came here to tell you that you can tell me if you want to, and I won't, like," and in the absence of a better word, I have to go for, "judge." I pull an awkward face, and Firewater smiles a little.

"Let's go flying." He announces suddenly. "It'll calm me down, and maybe then we can talk."

Out of the woods, I mount him, and he takes off smoothly down the Runway. For a while neither of us speaks, and he gradually spirals higher and higher up into the night sky. The lights of the towns further round the bay soon become visible as we start to rise, then begin shrinking into tiny pinpricks as we climb. Soon I can't pick out individual lights, but rather glowing clusters that mark streets, towns and villages, and I realise that I'm higher than I've ever flown before.

Feeling my sudden nervousness, Firewater says at once, "I'm sorry - do you want to fly lower?"

"No," I feel myself starting to grin, "No, this is fun."

Firewater responds by tilting his wings upwards and we soar higher towards the stars. I know enough about the theory of flight now to know that Firewater is making full use of a thermal – an upwards spiralling current of warm air – to carry us up with minimal effort. He'll probably continue until the thermal becomes too weak to help us, and then we'll glide. This is when we'll get a chance to talk, so for now I simply deepen my encounter with Firewater and enjoy feeling how it feels to be a phoenix.

At last the thermal runs out, and we begin to glide. Firewater steers well clear of the mountain ridge, avoiding the nasty currents we encountered on Monday, and we glide along above the coast. I watch the bays and rocky headlands pass peacefully beneath us, so far below, and think vaguely about geology. Discordant coasts, hard and soft rock…

For a long while, we just let ourselves glide, until at last I say simply, "Firewater?" and then wait.

I feel him hesitate, sigh inwardly, and then he offers, "What do you want to know?"

"Whatever you want to tell me."

He considers for a moment. "I think it would help if you asked questions. Otherwise I don't know where to start."

"Okay," I agree, and I think for a while before replying, trying to come up with an easy way into the conversation. "So," I begin. "Who was your first companion?"

"Melissa Pompeius." He replies at once, and as he says her name, I can see her image clearly through our encounter. She wears an ornate stola, and her long, brown hair is heaped up on her head in an expensive-looking bun.

"Tell me about her?" I prompt.

"Melissa Pompeius," Firewater begins, "a citizen of Rome around 0 CE, her beauty was said to rival that of Helen of Troy's. Many an elegiac couplet was written for her by her scorned lovers, for Melissa was interested in no one but her beloved-"

I let Firewater talk, glad to feel him beginning to enjoy the storytelling, but at the same time aware that by saying so much, he is really avoiding telling me anything at all.

Eventually, I have to interrupt him. "And your other companion?"

"Mahrin." Firewater seems content now, telling the story in his usual, lively, fashion – another reason for my increasing conviction that he has actually told me nothing of importance. I hear all about Mahrin's heroic deeds during the Roman occupation of Britain, all about the battles he fought and won, and about the family he never failed to return to.

Again, I'm forced to interrupt my companion. "But Firewater," I say, "I want your story. You haven't once mentioned yourself!"

He sounds surprised when he answers. "Well, I wasn't really a very important part of their lives."

"What do you mean? You were their companion!"

He brushes off the comment. "It was different then. We weren't entirely mythical yet, so loads of people knew about us. Being a companion was really common, and we often fought battles alongside our human companions. That's pretty much all I was ever useful for." Firewater clearly picks up on my doubt in this, because he continues, with some regret, "Melissa was only interested in her daughters, and to Mahrin, I was pretty much only useful as a battle engine."

He's trying to sound casual, but I know something is wrong. Firewater picks up on my concern and he says suddenly, "But I loved them! And they loved me! And it's my fault that-"

And then rather than finish that sentence, Firewater dives. Steeply.

At first, despite my surprise, I fold neatly with him, but gradually, I feel myself slipping forwards, just a little to begin with, but gradually further and further…

"Firewater!" I say urgently. "Firewater! Firewater please stop!" My voice rises to a panicked squeak, and finally the message gets through. He pulls up sharply, so sharply I almost fall off again, and I cling to him desperately until I can catch my breath.

Soon, I become aware that Firewater is apologising – profusely – beating his wings quickly in agitation. "I'm sorry," he says. "I'm sorry. Please talk to me? Do you hate me? I'm sorry. You could have been hurt. I'm so stupid. Alex? I'm-"

"Firewater it's okay." I lay a hand on his neck to calm him. "It's ok, I was just scared. No harm done."

"But I shouldn't have scared you. That should never have happened. I'm sorry."

Forcing myself to calm down for the sake of my panicky companion, I say, "Firewater. Stop apologising."

"Sorry." he says. And then we both laugh, and something resembling normality returns to the night.

"Look," Firewater says after a short stretch of rugged coastline has slid below us in silence. "Why don't we just fly for a while longer? Enjoy the night?"

"Good idea," I agree. I reach forward and rub the long feathers of his crest affectionately. "You still know I love you, right?"

I feel him smile. "I know."

He tilts his wings gently and we begin to fly inland towards the mountains, the plain below us lit softly by moonlight. I can see acres of farmland and a few scattered settlements, but otherwise, there isn't much there. The pinpricks of light that mark out the occasional car become fewer and further between as we reach the foothills, and just as we finally begin to relax, I suddenly catch sight of an area glowing bright orange on the mountain slopes ahead of us.

You see, I said it wouldn't be TOO long between uploads! :))

Thanks to the people reading and reviewing this! I promise it's getting more interesting now after a rather slow start (which I admittedly wrote a rather long time ago, and will be editing sometime, hopefully soon).

Also, I know I refer to something in this which didn't actually happen, but it will when I have edited earlier chapters. It's not important to the plot, I'm just adding it to fill where I will take out stuff which is irrelevant, and to add in more training/flying/companions.

Thanks for reading!

SJP