The ruins of Nchardak were very much like most Dwemer ruins, except these were half-submerged in water. The bronze-topped towers had sunk into the ocean, and most of the great stone masonry had fallen below the waves. It made me dread going into the already-menacing ruins.

"The Dwemer certainly knew how to build for the ages," Neloth remarked as we got closer. "These towers have outlasted their creators by millenia. The book is housed inside that dome. I'll need to unlock the door for us. Let's get on with it."

As we crossed the bridge leading to the main part of the ruins, several Dunmer bandits charged from behind the pillars. They wore mismatched fur armor, and carried various weapons made of iron or steel. Vilkas and I whipped out our swords while Neloth prepared some spells.

With the three of us, we made quick work of the bandits. I pulled my sword from the last one's stomach and wiped my blade on his armor. "Well. That was easy."

"I had to clean out the riff-raff last time I was here, too," Neloth said as we made our way across the enemy-clear bridge. "Where do they come from?"

"Who cares?" Vilkas asked as he sheathed his blade. "Let's just hurry and get that blasted Black Book."

Neloth did not seem to appreciate Vilkas's tone, but he kept quiet.

With water on all sides, it made me nervous. One misstep and... I would drown. I made sure to keep as close to the middle of the path as I could. Vilkas stood just behind me, a gentle hand resting against the curve of my waist.

Once we were safely across, I relaxed and moved towards the main entrance. I looked for a lever or pull chain to open the door with, but could find no such mechanism. All I could find was some sort of red and bronze pedestal close to the entrance, an odd four-pronged opening in the middle.

"The Dwemer of Nchardak appear to have been fond of these control pedestals," Neloth said as he came close. "Luckily, I found a cube to operate it inside on my last visit. I sealed the door when I left to keep out ignorant meddlers. Let me unlock it." From his bag he retrieved a cube, one that was the same size as the opening in the pedestal. He inserted his cube, which whirred as its inner workings spun, and the outer brass door into the ruins opened. The three of us entered carefully.

We came into a simple, round room. It had no adornment, nothing special about it. The only thing that caught my eye was a glass case set in the middle of the floor, a Black Book contained within.

I rushed forward, kneeling down by the glass. I looked for a way to open it, but couldn't find one. "Wizard! Use your cube! Open this case so we can be done!"

Neloth shook his head at me. "You can see the book right there. So tantalizingly close.... But trust me, no magic will open that. I'd have had the book already if I could." He pressed his fingertips to his lips. "No, we'll have to do this the hard way. If we can restore the steam supply to this room, I'm certain I can open it. As you'll see, that's easier said than done. This way to the boilers."

He moved to the right, towards another door. He used his cube to open it, and it revealed an elevator that led downward. My stomach knotted just thinking about going deeper into Dwemer ruins.

"Follow me," Neloth said, his tone leaving no room for question. So Vilkas and I followed him into the elevator. Neloth threw the center switch, steam hissed, and we started to go down.

It didn't take long for us to reach the bottom of the shaft. The doors swung open as we came to a stop. Ahead, a narrow stone pathway, covered in stony debris, curved and led down another hall. I couldn't see what lay ahead beyond that.

Neloth led the way down the hall, Vilkas and I walking side-by-side behind him. When we reached the end, we came to a cavernous room, filled with old dwarven architecture and machinations. Man-sized gears turned within the walls, filling the whole chamber with their grinding. Bronze pillars ran from the floor to the ceiling, some hissing with steam. 

We came to double staircases, Vilkas and I going down one, with Neloth sauntering down the other. As he walked, Neloth continued to ramble on about this particular ruin.

"Nchardak, The 'City of a Hundred Towers,'" he said. "In its day, it was the largest of the great Dwemer Archives and perhaps the most advanced. In the old stories, when the Nords came to conquer it, it's said the Dwemer submerged the entire city beneath the sea until the invaders gave up. I have my doubts. But the city was a marvel of Dwemer engineering. Now reduced to this. As you can see, most of the lower levels of the city are flooded. but it isn't hopeless—the old Dwemer pumps still seem to work. Watch."

He then took us to the end of the room, showing us an area that was flooded with water. He used his cube on one of the two blue and bronze pedestals in front of us. Something rumbled, making the stone beneath our feet quake. The water below receded, showing us another level. Four of the pillars I had seen earlier had blue pedestals below them.

But we only have one cube, I thought.

Neloth cleared his throat and pointed to the pillars. "The pumps only operate when a cube is in the pedestal. And unfortunately, I have only one cube. These four boilers provide steam to the room upstairs. They're shut down, but they still respond to the control cubes. So, if we can find four more cubes, we can turn these boilers back on and restore steam power to the room upstairs. Then I should be able to open the book's protective case. Bring that cube. We'll need it."

He started walking back to the center of the chamber, leaving me to pluck the cube from its stand. I stuffed it in my satchel, then Vilkas and I joined Neloth at some sort of mechanical map display.

He nodded to himself and pointed to a portion of the map. "Yes... here we are. This device shows the location of four more cubes in this section of the city. It looks like most of the cubes were moved to the lower levels, perhaps to try to control the flooding before the city was abandoned. Interesting. That would suggest that the city must have originally sunk during the first cataclysm of Red Mountain. Or that the Dwemer's servitors continued to try to preserve the city after their creators' disappearance."

"Enough of this pontificating," I growled. I was growing impatient. "Just tell us where the cubes are."

Neloth sniffed and rolled his eyes. With a swish of his robes, he strolled towards a locked door at the left of the chamber. "Three of the cubes are through here. This seems like a sensible place to start. You should be able to unseal this door with the control cube I gave you."

"Gave" might have been too generous. More like, "I didn't feel like carrying it around the whole time, so I forced you to take it." I didn't voice my thoughts; instead, I did as he explained. I placed the cube on the red pedestal. The cube whirred, and the locked door opened. I looked back at my companions, more so at Vilkas than Neloth.

"Shall we?" I asked.

Vilkas nodded, and Neloth sniffed.

I scoffed and pushed the door open. Self-righteous skeever brain.

Upon passing through the the door, we came across some active fire traps. They spewed red-hot flames across the hall, making it impossible to pass.

To my right stood another blue pedestal, a control cube still inside. I plucked it from its stand, and the fire stopped shooting.

"I hope the rest of the cubes are this easy to find," Neloth remarked as we pressed on. "Although, knowing the Dwemer, I rather doubt it."

I was really started to get sick of his mouth.

As we crossed through the now fire-free hall, two Dwarven spider workers sprang from some unseen hiding place and attacked us. They stabbed at us with their pointed, bronze legs, which we took care to avoid. Neloth readied his spells, shooting the automatons with purple lightening. Vilkas and I slashed at their legs, cutting them free from their metal bodies. I stabbed one in its center, and it fell to the stony floor with a great clattering of dead metal.

Neloth finished off the other with his magic, and we pressed on.

We reached a long room filled with greenish-blue water. A bridge above the water level allowed access to the back end of the room. At every corner stood an inactive Dwarven centurion, their metal faces staring back at us. They gave me the shivers.

"These must be the 'Great Workshops of Nchardak,'" Neloth said, observing the closest automaton. "Impressive even in ruins. In the city's days of glory, it was reputed to be able to assemble a complete automaton in a single day. Much of the Dwemer army at the Battle of Red Mountain must have come from here."

I ignored his history lesson and walked to the end of the bridge. I found two blue pedestals, neither of which held a cube. "I found something!" I called to my companions, waving them over.

Neloth and Vilkas both came running. "It looks like we'll need to lower the water level to make any more progress," Neloth said as he stroked his chin.

I placed two control cubes on the pedestals, and an earth-shaking rumbling filled the chamber. I stumbled into Vilkas as the room rocked. As the rumbling faded, the water level receded, so we could see the floor of the chamber.

"Come on," I said. "Let's—"

I was cut off when several automatons, a centurion and at least six Dwarven spheres, in the room came to life. They wasted no time converging on us. I gasped, but readied my sword.

"Ylva, no!" Vilkas shouted as he drew his weapon. "Go find the cube!"

"But—"

"Go! We can handle the machines!"

With a light shove, Vilkas got me out of the fray and towards the stairs leading to the floor. I dodged a swing from one of the spheres and leapt down the stairs. I came to the center of the room, seeing a red pedestal. I had no cube to use.

"I need another cube!" I shouted, desperately looking around for one.

Vilkas gave a cry of pain, and my heart clenched. I couldn't see him from where I stood, and I started to fear the worst. I needed to find a cube quickly.

Then, on a table to my left, I found one. I snatched it up and pushed it into the pedestal. A set of stone stairs rose from the floor, leading to a door on the highest level. The only thing stopping me from climbing the stairs was a brass-colored bridge.

The sounds of battle still raging above me, I yanked the cube from the pedestal and sprinted to the next level, where another red pedestal sat by the bridge. I jammed the cube into the pedestal, and the bridge rose. I grabbed my cube, jumped down to the steps, and raced up them.

I turned to my left, finding a locked door with a red pedestal beside it. I opened the door with the cube, then grabbed the second cube in the new room.

The room rumbled again, and I watched as the water level started to rise.

"No, no, no, no!" I screamed, making a mad dash for the door. But by the time I had reached the top of the stairs, the water was all the way up to where the bridge had been. Fear mounting, I scanned the room, looking for a way out without having to swim. I could find none.

"Ylva!" Vilkas called from above. I looked, seeing my husband racing down towards me. He didn't slow when he came to the water; he dove in and swam to me. When he emerged from the water, he ran to me and grabbed my arms.

"How am I supposed to get out of here?" I asked, panting. My chest tightened, and my heart pounded. "I can't swim!"

"Ylva, calm down," he said, pressing his wet glove to my cheek. "Breathe. Just breathe."

"Vilkas—"

He held a finger to my lips. "I will help you. The water isn't that deep. Just hold onto me, all right?"

I nodded, wrapping my arms around his neck. He put one arm around my back, then we walked into the water.

The water wasn't as deep as I had feared; it came up to my chin. With Vilkas's help, I made it to the other side.

That wasn't so bad.

I had just gotten my feet on dry land when the room shook, and the water level rose again. Panic seized my heart, and I held onto Vilkas even tighter than before.

"Oh, gods," I whimpered, burying my face into his neck. "Oh, gods."

"It'll be all right," he said as the water rose to my neck. "I've got you. You won't drown."

I closed my eyes as Vilkas started to tread water. It must've been hard for him, since he had one arm still wrapped around my back.

"Just keep your head above water, love," he said in a soothing voice. "I've got you."

"Where's... Neloth?" I was still gasping. Water lapped at my chin and spilled into my mouth. I started choking on it, coughing and hacking in Vilkas's ear.

"Deep, slow, breaths." He pushed himself forward, heading through a domed doorway of sorts. "Neloth is coming. Don't worry. I'm sure he has the cubes."

As he came through the door, Vilkas found his footing, and soon, we stood only ankle deep in water. I latched onto him still, scared to let him go.

He chuckled and patted my back. "My dear Ylva," he said. "It's over."

"Oh, gods, I've never been more scared." I buried my face into his neck. "I never want to do that again."

"You might just have to," said Neloth behind us. I pulled away from Vilkas to see the Dunmer wizard wearing a scowl on his gray face. He held the other two cubes in his hands.

"Don't worry, Ylva," Vilkas said, shooting a glare at Neloth.

After battling a few more automatons, we found our way back into the main chamber.

I wrung out my damp hair as Neloth placed the two cubes he had onto the pedestals overlooking the water. After the initial rumbling, the water dropped, revealing our next destination: a door on the opposite end of the chamber.

"Ready?" Vilkas asked, taking my hand in his.

I gave his fingers a squeeze. "Ready."

"Let's get on with it," Neloth said behind us. He pushed past Vilkas and led the way towards the door.

"Don't mind him, love." Vilkas led me by the hand. "He's just a self-righteous mage. He wouldn't have made it this far without us."

I smiled a little. He was trying to make me feel better. And it was working.

Of course, a good mood doesn't last long inside Dwemer ruins. As we approached the door, two automatons, the likes of which I had never seen before, crawled out on pointy legs towards us. They walked like the spider workers, but they had a shell on top, with a slot right down the middle.

And from that slot came deadly arrows.

"Look out!" Vilkas cried, pushing me out of the way. One of the arrows zipped over my head, missing Vilkas's side by inches. I scrambled to my feet as Vilkas pulled out his sword. I followed his example, and we charged one of the machines, leaving the other for Neloth.

I jumped to the side just as the machine released another arrow. Then, I stabbed my blade deep into the slot in its top. It squirmed under my pressure, but I twisted my blade. Vilkas drove his sword into a plate between its legs and head, and the thing finally lay still.

Neloth cleared his throat, causing us to turn from the destroyed automaton. "If you're done playing around..."

"Get your undergarments out of a bunch, we're coming," I spat as I strode towards the door. Gods, he was so annoying.

As we stepped into the next room, we came across three red control pedestals grouped together in a line. I furrowed my brow and stepped closer.

"Looks like we'll need those bridges down in order to get the pumps in here working," Neloth said. He walked down the stairs leading closer to the water level. He pointed to three different golden bridges at three different places in the chamber. "The last cube is somewhere in here. I hope it won't require more swimming around in this filth."

"You're not the only one, wizard," I muttered as I pressed one of my two remaining cubes into the first pedestal. The first of the three bridges fell in place, but the second one rose up. I tried the second pedestal; the second bridge went back down, but the third went up. Scowling, I tried the third pedestal. The final bridge fell, and the first one went back up.

"It's a puzzle," Vilkas said, gently taking the cube from me. "Let me try."

I gave him the cube, crossing my arms as he put the cube into the first pedestal. Just like before, the first bridge went down, but the second one came up. He tried the third pedestal, which made the third bridge raise.

"That's not it..." he murmured, trying again. His beautiful, icy eyes filled with concentration, his brow creased, and he stuck his tongue out slightly. I had never seen him so focused before. It was something fascinating to watch.

After a few minutes, his scowl of determination changed to a bright smile, and he handed me the cube. I watched as all three bridges fell down.

"That's it!" Neloth cried. "Don't touch anything else. Quickly, now."

Vilkas and I pushed past him, then we crossed the first bridge. A few spider workers attacked us, but after all the other automatons we'd faced, defeating them was child's play. After we crossed the second bridge, two spheres attacked us. Vilkas and I each took one out. When we made it to the last bridge, where the pump that controlled the water lay, I put one of the cubes into the blue pedestal, then rushed to the dry floor at the bottom.

Neloth stopped me before I went into the final chamber. "I have an idea. I'll wait here and retrieve this cube once you find the last one we need. Good luck!"

As Vilkas and I sprinted towards the last room, he whispered to me, "At last, we don't have to listen to his complaining."

I snickered as we entered the last room. I spotted a pressure plate in the floor, and stopped Vilkas before he stepped on it. Beyond that plate, two spinning blades ran up and down their track of death, ready to slice any unwary adventurer to ribbons.

"I'll get the cube," Vilkas said. "Stay here."

I grabbed his arm. "Be careful."

He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. "Always."

Carefully, he skirted past the rotating blades, reaching the cube with ease. I watched him sidestep something—another pressure plate, most likely. He grabbed the cube, the blades shrank back into the floor, and the room shook.

I hated feeling the shaking. I knew what it meant. "Vilkas?"

He tucked the cube under his arm and came racing towards me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me from the chamber just as the water started to flow in.

"Vilkas!" I wrapped my arms around his neck as the water swept us off our feet.

"Here!" He quickly shoved the last cube into my satchel before he wrapped one arm around my back. I held him tightly as he swam towards safety.

"Hold your breath!"

I did as he said, sucking in a sharp breath as he went underwater. I closed my eyes and held my breath until I felt my head break the water's surface.

Vilkas swam to the stairs leading out of the chamber. I let go of him only when I had my feet firmly planted on the ground.

"Do you have the cube?" Neloth asked as soon as we made it to safety. I nodded, and his red eyes lit up. "Good, good! Then I'll take this cube and we can be on our way." He walked towards the pump activator, taking the cube from its stand. Water almost instantly started flowing in. "Watch out, the water's rising even higher with both pumps shut down."

Vilkas and I both turned and ran up the stairs, all the way back to the door leading back to the main chamber. Neloth almost didn't make it back to the door before the water rose all the way to our ankles. I shuddered to think about what would've happened if we had stayed just a few seconds longer.

"That was easier than I expected," Neloth said as we left for the main chamber.

Speak for yourself, you milk-drinker.

"I'm glad you two were here to do all the hard work. With the cubes I retrieved, we should now have a total of five. I hope you haven't left more scattered about. With the cube I retrieved from the pumping pedestal, we should now have five cubes—exactly what we need." Surprisingly, he handed me the final cube. "Now we can finally see about getting those boilers started."

As Vilkas and I stood on the lower level, where the boiler controls were, Neloth walked up the grab one of the two cubes from the pedestals controlling the water level. I hurried and put the three cubes I had in, while Neloth placed the final cube.

Steam started spewing from the pillars, and a low rumbling noise filled the chamber.

"That seems to have done it," Neloth said, eyes locked on the pillars. "Good. It took longer than I'd hoped, but at least it's finally done."

Then, something heavy and metallic thudded to the ground close by. We all turned to see one last Dwarven centurion coming at us. It raised its massive hammer, steam shooting from its ears.

Neloth's eyes got wide. "Look out! Another Steam Centurion!"

We all readied ourselves for one last fight. Exhausted, soaking wet, and fed up with Dwemer ruins and their cubes, I charged forward, yelling at the top of my lungs. The centurion swung at me, but I ducked under its swing. I lopped at its knees, causing steam to spew from its joints.

Purple sparks arced over its body as Neloth pelted it with spells. Vilkas kept its hammer arm busy while I tried to find the best way to shut it down.

Gods, am I ready to see sunlight again.

At long last, I struck the massive automaton across the back, and the machine fell to its knees. Vilkas lunged forward and drove his sword up to the hilt into the metal skull. With a hiss of hot steam, the machine died.

Panting, Vilkas removed his sword and held his hand to me. I took it, and he pulled me into his side. His body trembled with fatigue, as did mine.

"It's not over," I whispered. "We still have to get to the Book."

He shushed me. "One thing at a time. Please. You need rest."

"I'm going to head back upstairs and see if the reading room has steam," Neloth said, rudely cutting in. "If so, it should be a simple matter to release the book."

I only nodded to him. Vilkas and I could ride up later.

But Vilkas had other plans. He helped me walk back to the elevator. The three of us rode back together, me leaning against Vilkas.

When we reached the top, it was obvious that the reading room had steam. Thank the gods that was over.

"Now that the boilers are working, it should be simple to release the book from its protective case," Neloth said as he stood next to the button pedestal in front of the glass case.

I walked to the button and gave it a light press. Four beams of light shot from the floor and into a large green-blue crystal over the glass case. The room shook a little as the glass retracted into the floor. The book rose up, along with a stand, putting it at waist height for me.

Neloth stared at the Black Book with greedy eyes. "At last. I hope it was worth it." He waved his hand to the book. "Please... be my guest. You deserve the first look. Besides, it could be very dangerous. These books are known to drive many people insane."

"Ylva, be careful," Vilkas said, giving my arm a gentle squeeze. "Remember what happened last time?"

"I remember. I'll be careful. I promise."

He nodded, then leaned forward and gave me a kiss. "For luck."

I smiled. "I'll need more than luck to navigate this. I'll need all Nine Divines on my side."

"Then I'll pray."

I gave a small nod, then seized the book's cover. It seemed to whisper malice to me, imploring me to read its forbidden words.

Only because I have no other choice.

With a slight gasp, I pulled the book open. I had no time to read the first words before the black tentacles wrapped around my body, pulling me right into the book.

As I passed between worlds, I heard Neloth say, "Say hello to Hermaeus Mora for me."

And then everything faded.