"It's a quality versus quantity argument, I suppose. There's no single person who better represents Myrken Wood than Agnieszka. That's why we have so much trouble, you know. All of them have a little bit of Agony in them. She just happens to have a whole lot of Myrken in her." He meant to smile in there somewhere, but it simply didn't come. This time, however, the thoughts came more quickly. That was the Glenn Burnie way. He hit a wall and he kept pushing. Then, when that didn't work he found a way around. "It's chess, Cinnabar." And for a moment, there was not a smile, but there was almost a pleading look. "When I'm losing, she's there so I can shake up the board. Some people keep a pawn up their sleeve. I keep an earthquake." And without him the earthquake caused so many casualties.
Now came the smile, a wane, weary thing. "It shouldn't have been me, my friend, but it was, and just like you, I'll live up to my responsibilities. I lost time in there, Cinnabar, more than I knew. You need to buy me some back and then your responsibilities will be lived up to as well, towards me and towards Myrken."
----
"To the Remedium." It was a focus. Getting better wasn't a goal. It was a broad, loose thing. Saving everyone was a broad, loose goal, and while his mind could wrap itself around those things, his body had a harder time at it. "Let's go to the Remedium, Cherny." He started to try to sit up, which was, by all obvious signs, such as the gritting of teeth, pallor that came upon him, and reopening of one's wound, an absolutely terrible idea.