Although the mysterious Queen of Air and Darkness appears only briefly near the end of the novella, her presence is felt throughout. Her illusory world of magic colors the actions of all the other characters. Some, such as Mistherd, are totally under her sway and revere her as the wise monarch of the fairy world. She frightens others because of her role as a mystical being who rules a magic land just outside of conscious thought. The protagonists, Barbra Cullen and Eric Sherrinford, fight her influence because her minions have kidnapped Cullen's child, as they had Mistherd and other human children.

Sherrinford is an unusual addition to a story of fantasy and futuristic fiction.

He is from the planet Beowulf, and like the legendary warrior Beowulf, he comes to rid a land of a monster that makes people mysteriously disappear — one that in this case steals children...