-Alright everyone, here's my second attempt at an Elder Scrolls fic (the first one I didn't end up liking too much). This time it's a different direction with some old characters being rehashed and new ones being introduced. I will at some point have the Dragonborn appearing, but they won't be the main protagonist of this tale and more of an encounter along the way for our heroes.

Side note: I made some minor tweaks here and there, so some of Skyrim's aspects like locations, characters, items, quests, etc. might differ from their video game/lore counterparts.

The White Gem

Chapter one: Where the worms lie

The Chaurus snapped its mandibles in one last vain attempt before the crude iron war axe was ripped from its bleeding skull. The chitinous invertebrate twitched its limbs as its body hit the ground dead in a fit of spasms. A heavy boot came crushing down on the corpse to cease its final death throes. An Orsimer Woman in banded iron armor gripped her blue-blood dripping weapon in hand and snarled to her companion.

"There's no end to these disgusting bugs, Enkide! They're around every corner!"

"Yeah well, I'm not too fond of their masters either!" The Redguard woman in leather gear snapped back, jamming her sword through a Falmer's neck. "Uruu, behind you!"

Another Chaurus, larger than the one first cut down, charges the Orcish warrior. The clicking beast has Uruu on her back, straining to lock its jagged jaws around her neck. It lunges and bites, but those big green muscular arms keep the Chaurus at bay.

Enkide shoves the Falmer Skulker trying to avenge its ally away from herself, and runs to assist her own companion. She jumps up with an iron sword unsheathed and plunges the blade deep into the screeching arthropod's back. The leather clad Redguard then rolls off just as the Orc chucks the dying Chaurus to the side. Uruu gets to her feet and hobbles to her recovering savior. The Skulker that was readying to jab Enkide with his poisoned blade, gets a sucker punch to the face that knocks the poor wretch off its feet.

Uruu makes her way to the writhing Falmer and caves its sternum in with a mighty stomp from her iron heel. The viscera and gore from beneath her foot has the Orsimer woman chuckling. She scrapes the remains onto a rock and goes to reclaim her weapon. The same cannot be said for Enkide who fumes at the shoddy work of whoever crafted her now bent blade.

"Ugh! And that was the only sword I brought too… you got a spare, Uruu?"

The Orc gives her a pitiful shake of the head and rips a Falmer war axe from their fallen foe.

"Hey, whaddya know, handle's still warm? Ya want? Heh-heh!"

"Fuck that! I'd sooner fight with Forsworn gear than put my faith in a weapon made from bug bits. I'll make do with this." Enkide proclaims while twirling her steel dagger back into a small sheath on her leather chest-piece. She looks around in the artificial glow of the subterranean world they have been trapped in and turns back to Uruu resting against a giant blue mushroom bigger than a tree.

The Orc suggest trying their luck at the elevator they came in and returning to the Alftand ruins where their journey began. Enkide pockets the Skulker's body for some gems and reminds the green goliath that it was a one-way trip. The elevator ascended without them and they were forced to explore this Falmer plagued underworld. The Blackreach.

Uruu gives a vexed groan, asking if they could not simply find an exit and return when they have better equipment. As it stands, neither of them brought a bow or know a lick about the arcane arts, let alone a basic restoration or destruction spell. That means the two small health potions Enkide has in her satchel and the single medium stamina potion her Orc friend is carrying will not be enough to carry them in a desperate situation. On top of that, their strongest weapon is now Uruu's iron war axe which has grown dull from beating on Chaurus chitin for the past three hours.

Their rations should hold them over for another day or two, but neither of them wants to be down in this nightmare realm any longer than necessary. And eating bug-meat is definitely not on their agenda. If that reward for retrieving this Dwarven relic was not so high, then the pair would have never even considered venturing this deep beneath Skyrim.

Enkide just sighs and beckons Uruu to follow. She can see the place where the that Dawnguard woman told them the relic and its treasures should be. The dangling sphere the size of a small moon is a dead giveaway.

"The Silent City, huh?" The Orc snorts. "If its so silent, then why in Oblivion is there like a dozen Falmer walking around?"

"Yeah that does looks pretty rough. Maybe we could try sneaking past them?"

Uruu jumps in front of the Redguard with a deadpan expression, clanking and clinking in her heavy iron armor.

"Oh yeah, lemme just sneak my big green metal-wearing ass, right passed the best ears in all of Skyrim. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Alright, it was a bad idea, I get it! Why you gotta be such an annoying bitch about it?"

"Cuz I like messing with ya. Heh-heh!"

Enkide frowns and slumps against a boulder. "Well if you got a better idea, then I'd love to hear it."

"As a matter of fact, I do."

The Orcish warrior motions for her to follow and they head for a path they came passed by earlier. They walk among the slain Falmer and Chaurus to stop in front of the main component to Uruu's master plan. When Enkide sees the ginormous Dwarven automaton waiting silently to be activated, she instantly says no.

"And you said my plan was stupid?" Enkide remarks while placing herself between the Orsimer woman and that button. "You're gonna get us killed, you dumb green bimbo!"

"Look, just here me out."

"I'm listening."

"We turn big boy over here on…"

"Ok."

"…lead it to the Falmer, and…"

"And?" The unimpressed Redguard questions with a raised brow.

"…and bam! A dozen flattened dirt elves coming right up! Ya can praise me now." Uruu boasts with a smug grin. She is somewhat startled at how quick Enkide is to go along with her hairbrained scheme and has to make sure her pointy ears did not deceive her.

Uruu heard right though, and as much as her friend would rather not be chased by an angry Dwemer machine into an equally pissed off Falmer horde, their options are limited. Enkide then tells the Orc that she better get a head start for the Silent City. Leading the lumbering metal monster will fall on her shoulders since it was her plan in the first place.

The leather wearing Redguard slams the gilded button next to the Dwarven automaton and hightails it up the rocky hill behind it. Several bursts of steam erupt from the Centurion's body as the harness holding the machine upright unlatches all round. A thunderous footsteps has Uruu stepping back with a nervous smile. Enkide just waves back at her from atop the rocky pile, grinning and pointing to the distant city. Another thud from the approaching metal monster sends Uruu into a full on sprint.

The waddling behemoth keeps a good pace with the heavily armored Orc huffing and puffing for her life. Running just outside of the Centurion's vision is Enkide, who maintains the same speed with little effort. Uruu might be strong, but her stamina and endurance is laughably bad. Enkide almost feels sorry for her, almost. But the bridge to the Silent City draws near, and something as massive as a Centurion will not go unnoticed. Even by the blind Falmer.

A bellowing horn sounds once the bridge to the Dwarven city is in clear view. Arrows begin zipping passed Uruu and pinging off the automaton with no effect. It spews some more steam from its joints and breaks into a full on waddle. Uruu cusses her way onto the bridge while barely dodging arrows and working up a real sweat trying not to be rundown by the mountain of living metal behind her.

"Uruu! Here!" Enkide calls from the sealed, several meter-high gates.

The out of breath Orc thanks Malacath upon seeing the Redguard and uncorks her stamina potion for a quick boost. She races by Enkide and falls against the city walls to catch her breath. Uruu peaks over from her spot to see her friend planted firmly before the incoming Centurion, agitating the automaton by throwing small rocks.

"Get out of the way already will ya? It's coming!"

"Not yet."

"Enkide."

"Just a little more." She mutters as the giant machine exits the bridge and is less than few big steps from her.

"Enkide!"

"Now!"

The Redguard woman rolls at the last second just as the Centurion swings its warhammer-arm and breaches the gates in one swift motion. There is a tremendous uproar from the Falmer as they scatter. The duo enter shortly after to see the steam hissing Dwemer machine mowing down the confused and frightened corrupted elves with ease.

With the thick plated aminuculi buying them time, they skirt the massacre and go up a ramp. They get onto the city walls, guided by the bright glow of the orange globe dangling above and look around at the buildings. Enkide pulls the quest letter from her pocket and holds it up to read while Uruu takes care of some stragglers. She skims the Dwarven architecture until an old set of symbols catches her attention. Uruu covers their back with a well tossed shrieking Falmer and makes a hasty retreat as the blind savages regroup.

Enkide beckons to the Orc from a ledge, climbing quickly down a ladder as their enemies move in. The two adventurers slide to the bottom and run towards the marked Dwarven building. They soon get pelted by a barrage of poisoned arrows and Enkide hears a cry of pain from her companion.

The strong willed Orc yanks the arrow from her shoulder with a strained grunt, but the damage has been done and the debilitating concoction now flows in her blood. Just their luck. The slowest and most heavily armored of the two is the one that gets hit by a stamina draining potion. And a high leveled one at that, since Uruu begins limping right away and struggling for breath.

Uruu slumps against the double doors of a massive building that towers over all of the Silent City. At this rate, if the Falmer do not kill them then that Dwarven behemoth will. The stomping metal giant comes around a corner with blood stained arms. Behind the duo, a pack of varied leveled Falmer come flailing their weapons and growling native curses. Enkide has no other choice but to carry Uruu on her shoulder and into the large Dwemer structure. Thankfully its open and the pair enter just in time as the sound of Falmer lets them know that the automaton should be busy for a while.

"Ugh, fuck… Enkide? I feel like shit." The afflicted Orc whines.

"Yeah, you're not looking so hot. That poison's working quicker than I thought, and we don't exactly have any cures either."

"Where are we now? Is this the place?"

"I wish. It's just some random building I took us in. No way we'd make it with you limping like an old man." Enkide tells her with a grim expression.

"You go on ahead then."

"What? Uruu I'm not leaving you here."

The green skinned warrior props herself on a stone bench and removes her banded iron pauldron where the arrow pierced.

"I didn't mean leave me here to die ya stupid idiot. I meant go get that artifact without me. Maybe I'll be better by the time ya come back. I just need… some rest…"

"Right, you just rest up sister. I'll be back as soon as I can. And if I'm not-"

"Ya will." Uruu interrupts. "Ya will, and when ya do we can finally leave this shithole."

The Orc closes her eyes and lies back on the bench. Enkide pulls out her steel dagger and carefully pries one of the double doors open to peek outside. She looks back at her friend and promises to return.

Right in front of the building is an absolute massacre. The Centurion is nowhere in sight, but the distant cries of the Falmer tells her that its rampage is far from over. Enkide crouches at the body of what looks like a Nightprowler, a real badass ranking Falmer that they are lucky not to have fought directly. Even more so, those large soul gems spilling from its pockets could prove valuable in case they abandon the quest. Enkide decides to also carry one of their crudely made swords despite its grotesque appearance. Worse comes to worse, a mere dagger will not protect her.

She begins heading for her original destination a few buildings down. Two lowly Falmer block her way. One unranked wretch and a Skulker. Enkide dual wields her dagger and sword, crouching closer to her hapless targets. The higher ranking Falmer sniffs her out too late as it turns around to be stabbed in its exposed abdomen. She slices its throat with her smaller blade and kicks the body into the other now alerted Falmer.

The sword comes right between the monster's useless eye-slits and remains planted in the ground. She takes up another fresh weapon from her fallen foes and this time carries one of their war axes on her back.

She stands before the single door of the structure, secured by a lock too complex for someone of her caliber. Good thing this quest came with the key already. Sorine Jurard did not seem to mind parting with it as she said the key held no monetary value on its own. The relic it leads to is also only worth its weight in gold to someone like her anyhow. And for their sake, this thing better be as heavy as a Horker!

The door is unlocked and she makes her way inside before any more Falmer show up. She travels down a long and narrow hall ornamented with worn Dwarven tapestry and those bizarre looking faces the Dwarves are so found of putting everywhere. There are a few doors along the way, but all of them are locked and the key she carries now serves no other purpose.

It matters not, what they have been seeking lies just ahead. Sorine only described the artifact as something that could not be missed. A shiny, jewel encrusted staff mounted on a stand would definitely fit the bill. She takes the artifact without hesitation and prepares to run back to Uruu when the horrific sound of metal scrapping the solid floor comes from behind.

Not one, not two, but three! Three Dwarven Spheres coming rolling into view. Those locked doors were not rooms at all, they were traps housing the metal beasts. Of all the places for her to run into Spheres, it had to be this tight passage with one way in and one way out.

"Great, now what?" She says in vain to herself.

One glance back tells her that there really is no secret door or escape route. This looks it might be the end, regardless of how skilled she is in onehanded weapons, fighting three Dwarven Spheres in a space this small with the low level equipment she has is a death sentence.

The mechanical guards emerge from their balled up states as they coming speeding towards her with swords and crossbows for arms. Enkide stares at the staff that doomed her and prays to the divines that it shoots something like all other similar magical tools. She points and aims but nothing happens. The first Sphere is now a few meters away and its sharp blade closing in fast. Enkide sees the souls gem placed at the very tip of the staff and remembers the large ones she took off that Nightprowler. Maybe it simply did not have any juice left?

She chucks the empty soul gem out and plants a new one just as the mechanical warrior closes the distance. The Redguard screams, aims and fires. A burst of blue energy comes surging forth, arcing from Dwarven Sphere to Sphere and causing them to convulse violently. To her astonishment, the automatons now roll sluggishly and on top of that, the staff trembles with unbridled power. What if she fires it again?

Enkide is pushed back from the immense recoil of the second shot which is nothing like the first. It unleashes like a beam of raw magical power, hitting the Sphere with such force that the aminuculi disassembles dead on the spot. A fiendish smirk spreads across the adventurer's face as she aims the staff at the two remaining Spheres and fires away.

Pushing the entrance open with the artifact in both hands, Enkide walks through Dwemer city with her head held high. And as if right on cue, a group of fleeing Falmer run right passed her. Thundering not too far behind, is the Centurion with its sights now set on the Redguard woman. It rears back its mighty warhammer for a fatal swing and is struck by the same arcing blast of energy that its allies suffered. The blast staggers the metal titan who roars a gust of steam from its lifeless visage. Enkide slowly approaches with the charged staff and lets the real damage rip from the second shot as it did before. Not surprisingly, the Centurion drops to one knee rather than falling apart. She should have known it would not be this easy. The Dwemer machine is shot a third time for good measure and Enkide takes the opportunity to flee back to Uruu.

Or so she thought. To her horror, the double doors have been left open. She races inside to find her friend missing and drops of blood on the bench. Uruu must have gone further in to avoid being cornered by whoever attacked her.

Enkide proceeds cautiously and follows the blood trail to a spacious cathedral lined with two rows of stone seats, all facing the far end that appears to be an altar of sorts. There is at least one dead Falmer strung about the middle walkway, an iron war axe embedded in its chest.

She retrieves the weapon and enters one of two doorways on either side of the altar. The one with bloody handprints is probably where the Orc went. Enkide rushes through a hallway littered with debris and Uruu's split iron helmet on the ground.

Worried beyond belief, she runs till her lungs burn and her ears pick up the sounds of struggle. Enkide descends a series of stairs where she spots the ongoing battle below. Among a jungle of steam hissing Dwarven pipes, tubes and pumping pistons, is a trio of Falmer surrounding a bleeding Uruu backed up against a sealed off chamber.

"Uruu!"

"Enkide?! You're back?"

Her Redguard sister comes charging and shouting with a strange looking staff in hands. The Falmer turn their bald heads at the noise and are suddenly shocked by a jolt of energy. The pasty skinned, subterranean elves recover from the painful zapping with little more than a few burn marks. That was all the distraction Uruu needed to come from behind one unlucky Falmer and choke the creature into submission. The Falmer at her right tries to assist its ally, but is hit with an axe of its own design burying itself right in the corrupted Elf's back. Enkide runs up with a furious cry and slashes the final Falmer clean across its ugly mug with Uruu's own weapon. The Orc finishes off her own hostage with a snap of its neck between her biceps. She falls back onto the gated chamber and looks at Enkide with weary eyes.

"What did I tell ya? Are we the baddest bitches in Skyrim or what?" The out of breath Orc asks with lacerations all over her robust physique.

"By the Nine! Uruu you're losing blood like crazy!"

"I ain't got time to bleed."

"Don't be stupid, now open wide." Enkide commands while crouching low and popping open one of her small health potions. She holds the tiny flask to the Orc's lips and makes sure Uruu gulps down every last drop. But for wounds this deep, a potion of this size will not be enough to fully rejuvenate her. She digs through her satchel for the second and last one they have when a green hand stops her.

"Uruu?"

"It's the last one right?" The Orc inquires. "Save it. You might need it for yourself."

"I already told you, I'm not leaving you behind! You're life's worth more than some stupid staff. We're leaving this place together, you hear me? Now stop being stubborn and drink."

"What are ya, my mother?"

Uruu finishes the second potion as Enkide attempts to make tourniquets from her undershirt. The Orc warrior tenses up suddenly and grapples her startled friend to the floor. Enkide shouts angrily but quickly shuts up after seeing the Falmer spear that would have punched clean through her torso had she not been pushed out of the way seconds earlier.

"Enkide, we got trouble."

"Huh? Oh shit…"

Far atop the stairs where they entered, hunching over in that typical posture and donning a full set of Falmer heavy armor, is a Warmonger and at least a dozen of its lesser ranking brethren. It grabs a poison dripping Falmer battle axe from its back and raises the weapon high with a guttural hiss. The Warmonger leisurely walks down the steps as its army of weaker minions come scrambling towards the pair.

It would have been a difficult battle facing a Nightprowler even if she was better armed. The truth is, neither Enkide nor even Uruu if she was healed, stands a chance against a Falmer warrior of this magnitude and skill. Not including the horde of Falmer it also has backing it up. And the artifact already proved little more than a minor nuisance to non-Dwarven aminuculi. Enkide is at a loss, completely dumbfounded as Uruu gets to her feet and takes back her axe. She picks up the Falmer war axe as well and looks back.

"I can clear a path for you if you stun them first. But there's now way both of us are getting passed that Warmonger alive."

"No! There's gotta be another way!" Enkide tries to reassure herself.

"Well unless you can get that gate behind us open, this's the end sis."

"I'm not letting us die down here for some stupid staff you hear me?!" The pissed off Redguard screams, banging the artifact on the gated door and accidentally releasing a burst of arcing energy. It travels up to a crystal on at the very tip of the doorway before jumping to two other adjacent crystals on each side. The gated door opens.

"Alright on the count of three, I'll unleash my Berserker Rage after you-"

"Uruu. The door's open."

Wide eyed but relieved, the Orc drops the other axe and quickly follows Enkide into the chamber. A lever further in lets them seal off the entrance again just as the horde arrives with their leader emerging from the snarls of its minions. It tilts its helmet up and down the gated passage, those numerous eyes on the visor for pure show and instead, the Warmonger senses the obstacle ahead.

It grips one of the sturdy bars and almost appears to be looking in the adventurers general direction as if it could actually see them.

"You… will not… essssscape this placeeeeee… alive, groundwalkers."

"Yeah, I'd like to see ya try, ya fucking dirt Elf!" Uruu sneers back with her fist raised.

The Warmonger turns back and leaves with the rest of its troops shambling slowly behind. Enkide touches Uruu's shoulder and says they should look for another way out. After that chaos they started out there, no way is that Falmer letting them walk out the front door without a fight. The two thus continue to go deeper into the chamber. The system of metallic tubes and pipes becomes more and more elaborate the further the further they walk.

All the infrastructure leads to one room with a concave ceiling covered in what almost looks like glass. There are four staircases, including the one in front of them, all slightly rising towards the center. To the best of their knowledge, the two assume that what they are seeing is a group of four golden coffins. They decide to investigate this new finding and carefully step closer.

To their disappoint, they all seem broken and empty. All but one that still spews gas and has the silhouette of a being within.

"Hey Uruu, come here. This one's still got somebody in there."

"Yeah so?" The Orc replies after strutting over. "Not like they're gonna be alive or anything."

"I know that, but what if they got something worth taking, huh? You know that Dwemer nut's gonna be wetting her loins when she sees we got the relic. Imagine if we bring her back a little extra?"

"Now you're talking! Let's crack this baby open and see what goodies our dead friend's got for us."

They both choose a side at the metallic coffin hooked up to the tubes and hissing pistons. The glass covering the lid is frosted and makes it impossible to see clearly within. Enkide jams her dagger in the opening as Uruu does the same with her axe. The women lift in unison and the pressurized air shooting out makes them both jump back with a start. Uruu is the first to shoo away the cool gas and peer inside.

She can hardly believe the sight before her. It is a genuine, flesh and blood Snow Elf from the bygone age of the Dwarves. The body is small and childlike. And although the face is rather feminine and pretty, she can tell from her numerous travels that this one is indeed a male. His skin is pale like soft snow the day it first comes down. His pure white hair travels to his shoulders and looks way finer than the greasy manes they have. His lashes are long and his nose is as small as a button, resting above a set of dainty and thin looking lips.

"Uh, Uruu? You alright? You're… blushing?" Enkide points out.

"Wh-what? I was not! It's just that- the gas, it um, made me dizzy and- Shut up! Just help me loot him!"

Uruu furrows her brow and grabs the edges of the pod when Enkide tells her to wait.

"Sorry sister, but robbing the dead is one thing. I don't know how I feel about robbing the living. Look again."

"Whaddya talking about?"

"He's still breathing."

End note: If you're reading this as a fan of my other works, just know that this one will be more tame and adventure orientated.