diamond-tipped in the fading light, and settled gently down
onto the grassy bluffs of the Carolan. Wren was barely out of
her restraining straps and on the ground again before the Home
Guard, Triss in the lead, were hurrying down from the city
proper to make certain she was safe. She gave them a reassur-
ing wave and a welcoming smile, then bent quickly to Tiger
Ty.
“Not a word of what we saw,” she whispered. “Not yet.”
The Wing Rider’s fierce black eyes locked on her. “Until
you meet with the High Council? ”
She nodded. “Until.”
The Talismans of Shannara 135
“They won’t like what you have to tell them—not that that’s
anything new. Wooden-headed mules!”
She smiled, quick and furtive. “You know me. I just keep
chipping away.”
The rough face grimaced. “Do you meet with them to-
night? ”
“Probably within the hour.”
“Mind if I sit in? Help do a little of that chipping? I pride
myself on my woodcutting.”
The look she gave him was filled with gratitude. “Thanks,
Tiger Ty. The Wing Riders should be represented in this, too.
You can most certainly sit in.”
She turned away then as Triss and the others of the Home
Guard reached her, relief reflected in their hard faces.
“My lady, you are well?” Triss asked quietly, his usual
greeting. He was still scraped and bruised from their battle
with the Wisteron on Morrowindl. His broken left arm was
splinted and cradled in a cloth sling. But there was strength
again in his lean face, and confidence and determination mir-
rored in his eyes. He had managed to put Morrowindl’s ordeal
behind him better than she.
“Fine,” she answered, her usual reply. “I want you to call
together the members of the High Council, Triss. All of them,
within the hour.”
“Yes, my lady,” he acknowledged, and turned away, disap-
pearing across the bluff.
Wren gave a short wave to Tiger Ty, then started after Triss,
angling toward the Gardens of Life and the Elessedil palace.
Lights were coming on in the treelanes and streets of the city
as the shadows deepened, and the air was filled with the tan-
talizing aroma of cooking. She reached inside her tunic and
brought Faun out to sit on her shoulder as she walked. She
breathed the forest air, reaching out beyond the food smells for
the tree and grass scents that lay beyond. A breeze wafted up
from the river, cool and soothing in the dying heat of the day.
Home Guard fanned out around her. They would stay with
her now everywhere she went, disappearing completely with
the darkness, invisible protectors against any threat. She
smiled. They worried so for her safety, and yet she was better
able than they to protect against danger, better trained and bet-
136
The Talismans of Shannara
ter equipped. They thought themselves necessary, and she did
not do anything to discourage that belief. But she always knew
where they were, could always sense them out there watching
over her, even in the deepest night. She had been trained to be
aware of such things since she was a child. Her teacher had
been the best.
Garth. The memories rushed through her, and she forced
them away. Garth was gone.
She reached the entrance to the Gardens of Life. The Black
Watch stood at attention as she approached, protectors of the
Ellcrys, the tree of the Forbidding. Their eyes followed her as
she passed, though she did not acknowledge them. She went
into the Gardens, into their seclusion, listening to the chirps
and clicks of insects come awake in the growing darkness,
smelling the flowers and grasses more strongly here, the rich
scent of black earth. She climbed the hill to where the Ellcrys
stood and stopped in front of her. She did this every night, a
ritual of sorts. At times she would do nothing but stand there,
looking and thinking. At times she would reach out and touch
the tree, as if to let it know that she was there. Coming to the
Ellcrys seemed to renew her own strength, to give her a fresh
determination to carry through with her life. The kinship she