Chapter 100

"My leader, who had seen how hard I gazed, informed me now: 'In all these fires are souls. Each one is swaddled in its inward blaze.'"

-Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

It was a female demon that shouted those cruel words at the passing crowd. She created a magical light in the centre of her palm and then started bouncing it up and down. A few demons stopped to watch her and a few more were already standing in front of the stage, probably waiting to start the bidding war. On the platform there was another female and male demon dragging some scared-looking mongrels onto the stage.

"What's going on up there?" I asked Dominica, grabbing her elbow. The stage was lit by torches. Most of the mongrels looked very human, and there was a mix of men and women.