"Then at least she lived her own life. At least she made her own choices. At least she died herself." It wasn't that he understood. He did. he'd walked that line. He'd changed the monsters when he had to, when he was at his worst, but she was looking at all of the people in Myrken Wood as monsters and maybe they were, but he had to draw the line somewhere.
"Myrken took his future, but he turned around and he made his own. It wasn't what you or I wanted for him, maybe, but it was still something. They all made their own future. They made their present. They made their lives. They pushed back against this darkness and did their best, every single day. The Ashfiend took so much from him but he turned around and fought back. That's why I fight for them, each and every one of them; that's why I stayed here. They inspired me to fight back too. They're the foundation that the future can rest upon." She believed what she said utterly. He knew that, but then so did he. "I was going to make a future where they could grow into what they might someday be, but you're taking away everything that they are. You're cutting out their heart and giving them your own."
That was Elliot, that was the others, people who were wretched or downtrodden or damned. That wasn't all she'd done though. "What about our friends, Rhae? What about Dulcie, about Nela? Your help has a price and they're the ones that pay it."