The novel begins with a centuries-old fiend as she thinks about her current situation, stuck in a weathered, run-down ballroom with nothing but fire and rubble at her side. Soon after, a lost boy enters the room, and sees the fiend. The fiend starts talking to the boy as well as teasing him for her amusement, much to the wary boy's chagrin. Insisting on making him tell her a story, the fiend gets the boy to tell her a story about the trickery of demons. (wikipedia.org)