"At his right, on a handsome white horse, rode country-boy Sun. With his rolled-up sleeves baring two strong sunburned arms, he was quite a sight, a fairytale-like kind of a hero fallen from heaven, flashing a perfect smile. His jade-green eyes, hiding under long, dark eyelashes, shimmered in the sunlight like ponds quivering under the shade of willow trees, while his sun-kissed hair could have faded him quite easily into a sea of pampas grass. Although he was only eighteen going on nineteen, Sun had already seen a lot of sorrows in Noaptea. Mature beyond his age, he had become indispensable to Luminos."

"Thunder ... riding his pure-blooded black steed, was not nearly as sunny. Fierce and mysterious on the surface, and devilishly handsome, he was clad from head to toe in warrior leathers, since he was on an official royal mission, so he thought, dawning the unmistakable blood-red cape of the Noaptean Royal Guards. His exquisitely crafted heavy sword still hung sheathed from his left hip, and the long bow, perfectly suited for a man of his stature, completed his intimidating knightly garb. The only soft side of him was his mane, raining over his broad shoulders like a curtain of black silk. Thunder was going on eighteen, and a warrior’s life was the only kind of life he had ever known."

"A pair of piercing purple eyes spoke of Leela's cleverness, of an unusually adventurous spirit, and a deep sensibility to all things human. With a few magic tricks of her own under her belt, Leela knew how to build magic bridges into people’s hearts. And when she did that, her eyes turned periwinkle like delicious ice-cream, and her smile plumped up her cheeks and crinkled her button nose. In truth, Leela was so well liked that nobody gossiped or asked any silly questions about her or her garden. She brought joy everywhere she went and was always welcome in people’s homes."