Shadow Walkers are a strange breed that possess the ability to slip between the planes of reality, becoming immaterial. This allows them to hide in the shadows, either hunting from the concealment of near invisibility or evading enemies. Though they become corporeal to mate or to eat, they spend most of the rest of their lives walking in the shadows. Shadow Walkers are wary creatures, though on dark autumn evenings when the leaves fall to swirl in the chill, rain damp air, they may be seen drifting out from the shadows.

Dragons are highly-intelligent reptilian creatures that—from a human perspective, at least—appear to live forever. Many different varieties of dragon exist, each with their own unique qualities, habitats, and behavior. Adolescence in dragons is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling’s wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. In Galsreim, dragons and humans coexist peacefully.

Cold and distant, Peta tries to avoid interaction with others as much as possible. Not because of any dark reason, he just prefers the peace and quiet so that he can spend his time on one of the many intellectual pursuits he appears to love. Engaging him in one of these many activities is a good way to make him open up, revealing a dragon who enjoys sharing his knowledge yet possesses a deep-seated lack of trust in most others. Nobody is entirely sure where this comes from.

The only dragon who has made it past this distrust is his mate, Phantom, and even then it is not uncommon to see Peta hurling insults at his mate, though usually with a smile or even a blush.

But even Phantom knows little about what role Peta plays within The Queen's Shadow, knowing only he is head of the chapters known as The Veil of Night. Peta and his group dedicate themselves to discovering and even creating new spells with which to protect the flock.

Spells that are of a much darker variety than normal.