Complex sentence: Rand al'Thor, Mat Cauthon and Perrin Aybara--plus a few hangers-on in the persons of Thom Merrilin, Egwene al'Vere and Nynaeve al'Meara, to the safety of the White Tower; but the Shadow had picked up their scent, and they were derailed.
Split into simpler sentences: Rand al'Thor, Mat Cauthon and Perrin Aybara--plus a few hangers-on in the persons of Thom Merrilin, Egwene al'Vere and Nynaeve al'Meara, to the safety of the White Tower. But the Shadow had picked up their scent, and they were derailed.