Sorry this was a while in coming but my computer was broken. Just to warn you, I enjoy randomly switching out of various POV as well as switching between 1st and 3rd person. I'll try not to be too confusing.

Gwen6: Thanks! I did do pretty badly on the descriptions but hopefully I did better in this chapter. The paragraphs in the first chapter were supposed to be that long but I kinda screwed it up. I'll have to change that eventually.

Izzy Vixen: Thanks for pointing that out. Hmmmmmm….. I'll find an alternative to that eventually. (revision note: Yeah! I did! It sucked, but at least iot was accurate!)

Disclaimer: I wish I owned BG, but I don't. I own Raz and the plot, that's about it. In fact, I barely own the plot. sigh Depressing……

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Revision Note: Added some more stuff, fleshed out conversations, the usual. The switching POV is a tad confusing, I know, but I wanted to keep it 'cause it works so well. This chapter is still pretty short, but there wasn't much I could add to it, other than details. And once again, Raz's a lot more pissy in this chapter than she used to be.

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Raziel's POV

I woke as I always did, a sudden leap from sleep to consciousness. I gave no outward signs that I had returned to consciousness; I simply lay there and listened. I needed any clues as to where I was and who was with me, and the best way to do so undetected was to listen while they thought I was asleep. After all, elven ears rarely lied.

So I listened. There was no one in the room. There was muffled shuffling from one direction, indicating a thick door leading to an inhabited area. There were no windows, for I could hear no sounds of the outside. There was also the faint dripping of water onto stone.

The door opened and closed, and someone walked towards me. The person had graceful footsteps, indicating a most likely elven heritage. Calloused touched my arm. A faint, woody smell hovered around the lightly breathing person. I knew who this was, for they had woken me up many a time before, many years ago.

Jaheira. The druid was here to check on me. Internally, I smiled. Jaheira had always watched after me, taking on the same mothering role with me as she had taken with Tarquinn. I had respected her, though I had always been quick to tease her.

I silently asked forgiveness for what I was about to do. Forgiveness from who? whispered that cold, emotionless in my mind. The gods? There is no one to grant forgiveness to you!

I ignored the voice in the back of my mind. I needed no more reasons to question my sanity than I already had. My mind planned out the best escape, separated from the yearnings of the heart.

I would knock out Jaheira. I would leave this place. Perhaps I would even deliberately hurt a few of the others. Maybe then they would leave me alone to my solitude. Maybe then I could finally discard this damnb emothion, and then discard my life.

Yes, your lonely life. Such a little martyr, aren't you! Keeping yourself away from others so you don't get hurt, and so you don't hurt them , the voice in my head whispered mockingly. But you do it for another reason too, don't you?

Shut up, my mind whispered back.

You like hurting them, don't you? You enjoy seeing pain cross their faces. Emotional, physical, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you see that look n their face, watch their souls through their eyes as they burn and writhe. You're a sadist; seeing that pain and knowing that you're the cause of it is a high you can't live without.

I said shut up! my mind screamed.

You hurt the ones you love because you were hurt. You want them to fall as you did. Misery loves company, after all. And what better company than those you used to love?

SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!

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"Stop," Raziel whispered.

Jaheira froze. She had been examining the girl for any injuries, but ahe had found none, only signs of those from the past. The numerous scars on Raziel's body spoke of months of torment, and of a life harder than it had been even with Tarquinn in the Bhaalspawn Wars. It hurt her to see Raziel, the girl she had almost seen as her daughter, so broken.

She withdrew slightly from Raziel as the girl spoke, surprised that the girl had been awake, and at her lackluster tone of voice.

"Leave, Jaheira. Now. I no longer have the will nor need to protect you from myself and my darkness." Her eyes, so cold and grey, and above all, empty. The girl turned over. "Go before I decide ypur life is no longer too high a price to pay for my freedom."

"Raziel…." Jaheira said uncertainly

"I said leave! I'm in no mood for your pity or anger or chiding. It was bad enough when I had to pretend to like you, but now I have no need to stand it." she snarled.

Perhaps no she'll leave me alone, Raziel thought.

"What has happened to you, child?" asked Jaheira, with a hurt and angry tone.

"Nothing you would wish to know about, nor anything I feel any need to tell you," Raziel growled. "Now leave!"

At this she sat up and attempted to reach out to the druid, to push her away. She found her hands stopped by manacles. She strained against them but her strength was still absent. She was also still slightly dizzy from the blow to her head.

She lay back against the wall of what she now realized was a cell. Cold stone surrounded her as sat on the dirtied floor. Her ankles and wrists were linked to the walls with chains. It was cold in the room, too cold, and she shivered involuntarily, then cursed her body for it's reactions.

Jaheira watched her with worried eyes. Perhaps she had hit the girl too hard. "Liaedra, are you……"

Liaedra looked up at her, eyes filled with a kind…. humor?

"You bludgeon me on the head, knock me out, lock me up in a cell, and then ask me if I'm alright? How ironic. Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Now, if you would just let me out of here," her expression turned dangerous, "I MIGHT NOT RIP YOUR THROAT OUT!"

Jaheira looked down Liae, a scowl twisting her features. "Anger doesn't become you, child. And you can't just be let go, yolu're a criminal. You burned down a temple! What were you thinking!"

"I was thinking that Quinn deserves to have his little ego-booster burned down. Bastard doesn't deserve to be worshipped, especially if he can't keep me from destroying every one of his temples!"

"You loved him once."

"Yes, before he left me. Now I wonder what I ever saw in that stupid Bhaalspawn."

"He made a hard choice. You don't know he really wanted to leave you."

"Then why did he leave?"

Jaheira was silent.

Raziel stood up, moving as close to Jaheira as she could without extreme discomfort due to the chains. "Tell me, Jaheira, what would you have done if Khalid had left you? Not died, but just left, to a place that you could never reach, without any hope of ever seeing him again, and after he promised you he wouldn't leave. Would you have forgiven him?"

"I…." Jaheira swallowed. "I don't know."

"Exactly." Raziel turned away from her. "You don't know. Well, trust me, it's not an easy decision, either. I hate him and I will never stop hating him, and nothing any of you say will change that." She sighed, sitting down against the wall and closing her eyes. "I grow tired of this. Leave."

Jaheira nodded and walked towards the door. Just before leaving, she turned back and said. "You must forgive him at some point. You cannot live like this. If you do not, the pain and hate will eat you alive."

"They already have," whispered Raziel. "You're too late to save me, so don't even try." The last part was a grol, and with that, Jaheira retreated out the door, locking it behind her.

Raziel sat aginst the wall, resting her head against the cold stone. This was just great. She was trapped here, in an unkown dungeion. Worst of all, her friends were here, and they were no inept gauirds. If they were watching her, it was unlikely she would be able to escape. Shwe might have to resort to violence.

So far, Ravyne had kept from killing any innocents. The odd bandit or thief, yes, but never had she harmed or killed someone who didn't attack her.

But this situation, it seemed, was set to test her morals. Any escaoe attempt would most likely end in vioklence. The odd guard being killed was unlikely to upset Raziel that much. But if her friends werer guarding her…..

Not escaping was not an option. She would die on her own terms, and she had one thing yet to accomplish before her death. So when it came down to it, a descision would be made, for better or worse.

Would she be able to kill her friends?

And, if she did, would she be able to survive the guilt?

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Next chapter: Raziel escapes! And to do it, she finds help from the most unlikely of sopurces…..