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| Everything began to happen in slow motion as Ubergard was blown back by Helfer's shout. Helfer then turned to Kitty and began another Shout, "Liz! Slen!..."

However, Mikael ran to intercede while yelling at Kitty, "Kitty, RUN!"

"NUS!"

And instantly Mikael's form was frozen into stasis. | | | At Mikael's warning, Kitty had dropped to all fours and was running back across the bridge at top speed when Helfer stepped to the side and repeated her Shout. As she heard the last word, time stopped for Kitty as she too froze in complete paralysis. Meanwhile, Ubergard had gotten back to her feet and had her blade out running full speed towards Helfer, menace obvious in her face. | | | Helfer smiled at the onrushing Argonian and she again spoke arcane words without any apparent fear.

"Gol! Hah! Dov!" she Shouted, then added calmly. "Please stop now, Ubergod. Put away your blade. Be still."

Ubergard stopped. | | | "You may speak, but do not move," Helfer smiled as she stepped up to Ubergard. "This one regrets not being able to use magic properly. It has never come easy to me." she said as she gingerly touched the scars on the side of Ubergard's face. "Regrets also for this, my Ubergod. It was dark when I saw you on the mountain. You appeared to me to be my master, coming to slay me after he banished me to this cold land. He too is an Argonian. It was an accident that this one Shouted you off the edge. She rejoiced when she saw your female form still living below. Helfer did save you, you know."

"What have you done to them?!" Ubergard demanded, though unable to move otherwise. | | | Helfer looked at the oddly positioned statues.

"Oh them? They are frozen, my Ubergard. No harm. Well, not yet."

"You'd better not harm them or I will cleave your sad head from it's neck, I swear it!"

"Helfer? Helfer would not hurt these two. They are little, like Helfer. It is large, powerful ones like you that hurt. Not poor Helfer! But you will hurt them. Oh yes, you will hurt them badly."

"Helfer, it's not too late. You can stop this. Release them and I'll do whatever you ask!" | | | Helfer's demeanor instantly turned back to the raging feline she had been moments before. "Too late, Ubergod! You could not love Helfer, you said! You think now you could, dear Ubergod? Helfer does not believe this. But this does not matter. You will not matter soon. Just a little something you could do for me first."

"What is it? Free them and I'll do anything."

"Helfer wants you to free them. You can do that for them, Ubergod. You will do that for them. Helfer could release them, you know. The slightest touch of magic and they would be free. Helfer can do small magics. But oh, the things that can happen until then. Do you know what happens if you drop a frozen one from a height like this onto rocks below? Oh yes, it is not pretty. They shatter. A million little Kitties, twinkling like glass. Helfer knows. Helfer has seen. Helfer has done!"

Ubergard's eyes grew wide in comprehension. "No! They've done nothing but help you Helfer! I hurt you. I'm the one you want. Why would you do this to them?" | | | Helfer's face once again assumed it's raging countenance. "To hurt you, Ubergod. As you have hurt Helfer. Your death means nothing to Helfer. Helfer liked you. But Helfer wants to see you cry. Do lizards cry, Ubergard? Helfer will know this."

"We do. No tears, but we cry. And we remember. If you do this, I will remember."

"Not long will you remember. Don't worry, they feel nothing. They see nothing. They just will never know another moment. But no, Helfer will not have you shatter them. Last night was long. Helfer has a better idea for your Khajiit friend. She you care about most. You will drop her in the river. She may die instantly, but probably she will not. She will lie there, at the bottom of the river. For years. For decades. For centuries! Perhaps someday she will be rescued, but not by you. And if that day comes, you will be gone. Helfer will be gone. All will be gone. But no one will know she is there." | | | Ubergard flexed her jaw. The keen eyes of Helfer noticed, but did not comprehend. Yet Ubergard was testing something. She had some free will. She may have to do as she was bidden, but beyond that she could do as she wished. She breathed without Helfer's permission. Her heart beat. What did Helfer say? The slightest touch of magic? But she was no mage. She had no magic... or... did she? She needed more time to think...

"Why did your master exile you here, Helfer? What did you do?" Ubergard asked, not really caring but trying to stall the crazed Khajiit. Perhaps someone would come along soon. | | | "Bah! He is nothing. He cannot Shout. But... Helfer could only do small magic. She could please him in other ways, but she could not large magic. But Helfer is clever. Helfer is small, but she needed a sting. She found a book of Shouts. Master could not do the Shouts, but Helfer could. Helfer could do them well. Helfer practiced in secret, but still she could do only small magic and the Master grew bored of her. Even all her skill at pleasing him could not stop his disappointment. He took another. He left Helfer alone and loved another."

"But Helfer shattered her. Shattered her to little tiny pieces. Oh yes, never to be put together again. Poor Master was heartbroken, but he knew who had done it. He knew how. He tried his magic on those shards. They instantly unfroze. That was a horrible thing he did. She oozed. She dripped away. She melted. And the smell was awful. Oh, Master, you should not have done that. He killed her, do you understand? She was, in a way, still alive until he did that. Still could be brought back. Maybe, somehow. But the goo that dripped away was not living. Helfer prays it was not living." | | | Suddenly Helfer's gaze focused back on Ubergard, "Enough. Ubergod, take your friend Kitty. Carry her up to the top of the bridge and drop her into the river below!"

"What's the hurry?" Ubergard asked, though she turned and approached the frozen form of Kitty. "Do your Shouts not last forever?"

Helfer followed at a safe distance behind. "Oh, don't worry Ubergod. Kitty will stay frozen forever. But you... Never mind. Helfer has a plan for you too."

Ubergard lifted Kitty easily, totally unable to stop herself from carrying out the will of the mad Helfer. | |