advancing. With the death of Erring Rift, command of the
Wing Riders had passed to Tiger Ty, the most experienced
among them and a leader with whom they felt comfortable. Ti-
ger Ty, gruff and abrasive, but up to the challenge, had sent the
The Talismans of Shannara 365
Wing Riders in support of the Land Elves. The Federation
army had been better prepared than before, but still not well
enough to prevent considerable damage to supplies and stock.
The Elves had lost more than a dozen men this time, but the
Federation juggernaut had been brought to a halt once more,
forced to stay their march long enough to allow recovery of
horses, foraging for food and water, and treatment of their
wounded.
Barsimmon Oridio had reached the Valley of Rhenn and was
starting down to meet them. Messengers had arrived from the
old general to announce that help was on the way. Desidio and
Triss had dispatched the messengers back again with the
queen’s greetings—unwilling to reveal just yet that the queen
herself was missing. Neither had been prepared to concede that
she was gone for good, despite what had happened to Erring
Rift and Grayl. Wren was pleased to discover that they had
kept her disappearance quiet.
But she had already decided that the advance guard must do
more than just wait for Bar and the rest of the army to reach
them. She had thought it through on the flight in from the
grasslands, her body weary from the battle with Tib Ame and
Gloon, but her mind strangely sharp and clear. She knew what
had to be done, and it had to be done regardless of anything
else that happened. The Creepers had to be stopped. They
would be gaining rapidly on the Federation army now, come
out of the luting and across the Mermidon and into the grass-
lands east of the Pykon. They would catch up in another few
days and join with their allies in the hunt for the Elves. When
that happened, it was all over. The Elves had no defense
against the Creepers, not in numbers, skills, or strength, and
the Shadowen machines would track them through the West-
land forests to Arborlon and put a quick end to them.
She was not going to let that happen, she had promised, and
she had thought back to Morrowindl and the things that had
hunted her there and then back to the things that had hunted
Ohmsfords down through the years in their service to the Dru-
ids, until surprisingly, unexpectedly, she had found the answer
she needed.
But once again it would put her at risk, and once again it
would require use of the Elfstones.
366 The Talismans of Shannara
She had told Tiger Ty, Triss, and Desidio of her plan that
very night, and all three were aghast. They had pleaded with
her to give it up, to think of something else, to try a different
tactic. They had beseeched her to consider what it would mean
to the Elves if she was lost again—this time for good. But she
had held them off with reason and hard fact, with strength of
will and argument, and in the end they had been forced to ac-
cept her decision, however reluctantly. They had managed to
wring one concession—Tiger Ty and Triss would go with her
for however long it was possible.
That had been two days ago. She had come south that same
day with Triss, Tiger Ty, fifty Home Guard, and half-a-dozen
Wing Riders. The Rocs had carried the Home Guard in the gi-
ant baskets, keeping well back within the shelter of the trees
and mountains where they could not be seen from the
plains, and Wren had ridden with Tiger Ty. She had held ev-
eryone in place just long enough to dispatch Faun into Drey
Wood to locate and bring back Stresa. She had told the
Splinterscat what she intended, and because so much depended
on him she had waited for his assurance that her plan could
work. When he had agreed that it might, she had scooped him
up, strapped him in place on Spirit’s back, tucked Faun into