"Through destruction, the only thing borne of it." Erik understood that intimately. It was something close to hate that fuelled his quest for vengeance. That was, after all, what grew and festered inside a scared little boy who once sat in this operating theatre and endured all manner of horrors.

"No-one will stop us," he added blandly. "The rain and the fencing go on and on. It never stops because I didn't leave until much later."