Lightning, thunder and rain visited not only Petang Asol, but the whole of Cordella that night. The white wash noise concealed the moans of a woman whose unclothed body swayed seductively in response to the pleasure the man under her was giving. After reaching the peak of their lusts, they laid in bed and as they usually do, spent the remaining hours on small talks.
"Your father is as confident as Ziron Kandas. He did not seem worried when Ziron proposed the duels." Melissa commented.
Bryan shifted his position to lie in his back before he confidently answered, " My father did not expect that it would be Ziron who would suggest the duels. We thought that if that old man insisted for Emy to inherit the title, the house of Pakjawan would suggest an alternate means based on sound argument."
"And, will you be okay?"
Bryan shot her a deadly glance. The inquiry was not received as genuine worry but that of an insult.
"Sorry. What I meant was, how are you so confident that you'll win against Emy? Is that the reason you were out of the public's eyes this past few years?"
Bryan smirked, "I guess so… I am quite excited for the duels. I think it's an opportunity for us to let it all out."
Melissa gave him a look of confusion. "You must have felt it Mel, at least once or two. The desire to let people know that you are different. That you are capable of doing something that they aren't capable of."
Mel contemplated on what Bryan just said. It was true. There were times when the clan's mandated secrecy robbed her of her identity. She was an opinionated woman and she was proud of the things that she can only do compared to the "regular" woman of her age. Her thoughts shifted as she remembered a curious topic.
"Do you think they are back?"
Bryan glanced at her. His stares demanded more words from her.
"…the Afeys'. Do you think someone survived?"
Bryan rose and sat at the edge of the bed. He reached for a cigarette stick atop the bedside drawer. As he made the first blow, he replied, " My father said, that the fire ten years ago was massive that no one could possibly survived. If there was someone who have survived that fire, an Afey will not wait ten years before they decide to show up."
"Well, that's true if that fire was an accident."
Bryan, once again stared at Mel. He grinned. Bryan had known Melissa Sagubo since they were children. He was a bit older than her, but her manner was mature enough to keep an interesting conversation with him. She was a person who was able to read between the lines and was not afraid to voice out her thoughts and was clever to do so at the right time and place.
Their generation was aware of her "hobby". Consider a man that has caught her interest a prey. Bryan on the other hand has never run out of lady "friends" to pass through the time. After their curiosities of each other were answered one night in bed, they made an agreement to continue this relationship without strings attached.
Melissa noticed the grin and that grin did answer her hunches. That fire might not be an accident after all. The elders were keeping some secrets of their own. Her grandfather seldomly talked about the Afeys. He would just talk about how powerful the clan was, how they might have been cursed since the foundation of their clan, and how that curse revealed itself as true in the fire ten years ago.
"Those old fools refuse to talk about that clan around us. It is either because they want to protect us or they want to protect themselves. But I remember what Elder Bazan told me and my cousins when we were at the old house, 'An Afey's eyes turn crimson with strong emotions and when their eyes do turn, everything turns to a bloodbath and everything burns to the ground."
Melissa propped herself up and patiently waited for the storyteller to continue. " Grandfather said that during his childhood, the elders would tell stories that the first Afey was a son of the Menososchong. That during his time in the skyworld, he took his father's gift of life and raised the dead which was not supposed to be. Then he was banished from the heavens and exiled to the mortal realm. Although the gift of life was returned to his father, his descendants were able to have it. They were like gods. They moved mountains and dried the oceans if they pleased. They created life by using the dead, or they created death to maintain life. And the Afey who is able to raise the dead becomes the head of the clan."
"Isn't that a bit too much? If they were that powerful, fire wouldn't have burned them all. Nor would the combined forces of clans be able to kill these gods."
"Not unless they became weak overtime. The curse perhaps has affected the clan's fertility. To keep the powers for themselves alone, their sons and daughters only married people within their clan. Like the Calpos' they preferred their own clan members. They were unwelcoming of outsiders. But these marriages produced little to none. So, daughters from the outside clans were taken in but their offspring would either be without the gift or with a gift but weaker than a 'pure blooded' Afey."
"So in then end", Melissa interrupted, "gods became mortals." Bryan chuckled.
Silence ruled over them. Melissa cannot keep her thoughts to herself anymore.
"Bryan, you awfully know a lot about the Afeys. What happened ten years ago?"
Bryan took a last sip of the cigar in between his fingers before deciding to put it off. He held Melissa's chin and with his thumb sealed her lips, " There are things in this world of ours that you should not pry into Mel. Just stay where you are for your own sake. Stay here in my bed. Stay naked and lay in ignorance. Only this time, I prefer you that way."
Before Mel could even argue as she took what he said as an offense, Bryan forced her to lay down and decided to hold her rougher than before.