"Suho?"

The voice of the thunderbird still gripping his wrist jolts Suho back to his senses and he tries to swallow but it feels like his throat is full of chalk.

Chen follows Suho's line of vision and walks to the tree with "HERETIC" carved on it's bark. He tilts his head and squints at the rough letters, tracing the "c" with a finger. He glances back at Suho, confusion clouding his eyes.

"What does it say?"

Suho opens and closes his mouth desperately, trying to calm his panicking mind.

"Heretic. It says heretic," he finally manages to whisper.

"What does it mean?" Chen asks, still confused.

It means my family is in danger. It means I'm going to be arrested. It means the Templars are coming for me. It means I'm going to be killed, Suho thinks, staring at the thunderbird. He did this to me. 

"Something bad is going to happen," Suho whispers.

"I will protect you," Chen says seriously, but then he smiles and Suho wants to scream at him because this is all his fault. 

But then he wonders; if they kill heretics, what would they do to a thunderbird?

Suho swallows hard and speaks in a shaky voice.

"Chen," he starts, before his voice cracks. He tries again. "Chen, you have to leave."

Chen frowns.

"No. I want to stay with you."

"Chen, if you stay here, you're going to die."

"I don't understand."

Suho runs his hands through his hair in frustration.

"What do you mean you don't understand? Jongin is going to tell the church that I am a heretic and they are going to send Templars to arrest me and if they find you here they are going to kill you," Suho spits, fear making his tone sharp.

Chen laughs.

"They can't kill me, Suho. I'm one of the Adar. We can only be killed by our own kind."

The thunderbird's laugh dies out.

"What does it mean to be arrested?"

Suho closes his eyes and presses the heels of his hands into his eyes.

"They're going to come to my house and they're going to take me away. Lock me up. Put me on trial and if they convict me…they'll burn me at the stake."

Chen is silent. The air grows deathly still and every hair on Suho's body rises. A snapping sound makes Suho look at Chen and take a step back out of fear.

Huge arcs of electricity are jumping across the thunderbird's body and Chen's eyes are like frozen steel. Every feather in his cloak is bristling and his mouth is pressed into a grim line.

"They will not touch you," Chen's voice rumbles ominously and Suho shivers because he realizes that Chen will not hesitate to kill anyone who lays a finger on Suho.

"What about my family?" Suho whispers. Chen his head and blinks, as the lightning disappears.

"What about them?" Chen sounds so puzzled Suho almost laughs.

"Will you protect them too?"

Chen blinks again.

"No. Why should I?" His voice is so completely indifferent and it shocks Suho.

"Because the Templars will come for them as well and I can't protect them on my own," Suho tries to keep his voice calm but it's shaking again.

"But why should I protect humans?" Chen looks genuinely puzzled. Suho feels anger bubbling under his skin.

"I'm a human as well, thunderbird," he snarls, glaring at Chen. "If you won't protect my family, then I don't want you to say you'll protect me."

Chen frowns, hurt flashing in his eyes.

"Suho…"

"Leave. Before you give the church another reason to destroy my family."

Without looking back, Suho turns on his heel and stalks back to the house, breaking into a run when he hears the crack of thunder behind him. He sprints to the house as a light sprinkling of rain begins to fall, throwing the door open and slamming it behind him.

"Mother, get Sunny, we have to leave."

He hears the laughter of a male and he freezes. His mother peeks at him from the living room, a smile still on her face and beckons to him.

"Here he is now," she says gently, and Suho walks towards her but stops in his tracks when he sees Brother Baekhyun sitting in the chair across from his mother. Baekhyun smiles at him, but it doesn't reach his cold, calculating eyes.

"Hello, Suho."

Suho manages to walk the last three steps without collapsing and realizes far, far too late that he left his arm bandages at the spring. Baekhyun's eyes rake his scarred arm and he smiles again at Suho.

"Mistress, I beg your pardon, but may I speak to Suho alone?"

Baekhyun's eyes never leave Suho's. They both know why he's here.

Suho's mother merely nods before leaving the room. Suho stands, staring at the priest, the only sounds the gentle patter of rain on the roof and the slight crackle of the fire in the hearth.

"Why don't you sit down, Suho?" Baekhyun says, the smile slowly fading from his face.

Suho hesitates before sitting down, his back rigid and his hands tightly clenched on the armrests. He swallows a few times before speaking.

"I know why you're here," he says around the lump in his throat.

Baekhyun's lips twitch.

"Do you now," he muses, toying with the sun pendant around his neck.

Silence engulfs them again. It drapes over them like a heavy blanket until Baekhyun tears it aside with a slight smile.

"Shall I tell you a story?"

Suho jumps a little and stares at the priest, sure that he's joking, but Baekhyun seems completely serious. He nods warily.

"When I was a young initiate at the Sun Temple in Vrae, I saw the face of god. It was a sight I will never forget. God is beautiful, Suho."

A gentle smile spread over Baekhyun's lips.

"God told me about the Adar."

The name of Chen's race made Suho start and he tries to cover it up with a cough.

"He told me that they are the birds of heaven. They rebelled against the god of light and must be punished. They take the form of man and they entrance and seduce and trick humans into helping them. Into becoming their slaves. And humans who help the Adar bear a mark on their left arm."

His eyes flick to Suho's arm and Suho shifts uncomfortably in his chair.

"I want to help you, Suho. I want to free you from the trick the Adar have played on you. But in order to do that, you have to give me the one that marked you."

Chen.

They want Chen.

"I…I can't do that," Suho stammers.

"You have to be free of him," Baekhyun murmurs, his eyes fixed on Suho's face.

"He's my friend!"

"He's using you. When an Adar claims a human they become more powerful. He doesn't care about you, no more than he cares about any human. To them we are specks of dust. Insignificant."

Baekhyun's face is impassive.

Suho doesn't want to believe it. He wants to believe in the boy with the shining eyes and the quick smile and the laugh that is more beautiful than chiming bells. But Chen's words haunt him.

"But why should I protect humans?" 

The way he had said it hit Suho in the stomach and knocked all the breath out of him. It really did seem as though he thought of humans as less than insects. Not worth saving.

Taking his silence as another refusal, Baekhyun sits back in his chair and laces his fingers.

"Shall I make you a deal?"

Suho's eyes, which had been focused on a knot in the floorboards, snap up to Baekhyun's face.

"A deal?" He asks, mouth dry.

Baekhyun nods, his eyes cold.

"If you do not want to reveal the Adar that claimed you, that is fine. But. You and your entire family will be dragged to the town square and branded as heretics. And you will all burn."

Suho leaps to his feet.

"You!" He's shaking so hard he can't even finish the thought, though whether the tremors are from fear or rage, he's not entirely sure.

"Or…" Baekhyun smiles thinly before continuing. "You give up your bird. You call it to you and help us capture it. And the church will leave your family alone. Do we have a deal, Suho?"

The priest holds out a hand, his eyes hard. Suho's insides churn as he comes to the only decision he can make.

"Deal."

--------------------------------

A/N: And...yeah. I'm just so lazy omg I had half of this written and for the past month I've had it open and on my computer and I just kept going "eh...I'll finish later." This is why I am a terrible person. Thank you for all of the support and kind comments and I hope I don't disappoint you with the rest of the story.