Character Analysis
Kendra and Seth first encounter Ephira on Midsummer Eve. She's "a coldly beautiful woman swathed in writhing black garments. The apparition's dark hair undulated like vapor in a breeze. Her pallid face was slightly translucent" (10.139). When Kendra makes eye contact with her, the girl freezes, her mind filled with odd whispers—luckily Seth closes the curtains, though, before Kendra can be manipulated into opening the window.
Ephira shows up once more when Bahumat is released. She attacks the fairies who are trying to restore order: "Long streamers of ebony fabric flowed from the spectral woman, entangling nearby fairies. The ensnared fairies began to lose their luster and wither" (18.91). Sounds like Ephira has some pretty freaky magic powers.
When it looks like the tides are turning though, "The spectral woman turned and drifted away" (18.93). The fairies let her go, but we have the feeling that we haven't seen the last of Ephira. We don't know what exactly her agenda is this whole time, but we feel like it probably doesn't involve rainbows and puppies.
That said, here are some rainbows and puppies for you to look at.