Shadow Mountain beyond the point of no return

His touch was more of a comfort than she could ever convey. When he pulled away, it was as if someone had peeled off her pelt and left her naked to the winter wind. She pushed back into him, gently but insistently, lining herself up with his lanky frame and burying her face in the curve of his scarred neck.

He was broken, too. They both were—but alive, somehow. Alive enough that she could stand here in the shadow of her near-demise and tell the tale.

Maegi felt a warmth in her stomach, not unlike what she had felt when the daedra (pah!) had urged her to bear children. But this was less flash-fire, more like a hearth. More genuine. She recognized it for some kind of deep love, and why wouldn't she feel so for Mou? He'd left several times, but always returned.

Death or betrayal. He defied the binary.

She pressed a gentle kiss against his cheek, nose tracing the curve of his jaw. Felt the pulse there—and rejoiced! for he was alive, and he was hers.