This "pigeon" was not that "pigeon"—what Andreas meant by "to pigeon" (standing someone up) was actually that the Satyrs were about to be "plucked."
With the Satyr main camp trampled, the outcome of the war was no longer in doubt. Movement in the snowfields of Winterspring was highly inconvenient, and the Satyrs' flight speed was inevitably hindered. Under such harsh terrain conditions, the advantages of aerial units were showcased to their fullest.
The Sentinel force's signature Hippogryph Riders poured arrows down upon the fleeing Satyrs from the sky. Caught in the chaos of a rout, the Satyrs had no opportunity to strike back.
The Druids of the Talon, led by Ferian, took the chance to kick the enemy while they were down. Various wind-based spells fueled by natural energy blew the Satyrs into disarray, with quite a few being swept into the sky by cyclones.
While other specialized Druids cannot use spells while in flight form, the dedicated Druids of the Talon are different. Through rigorous training, they can utilize a variety of nature-based wind spells while airborne.
However, Druids are precious spellcasters after all. Even with Andreas's excellent relationship with the Druidic order, the base number of combat-ready Druids in Moonshadow's Rest remained small, and Druids of the Talon were even rarer.
Gazing at the Hippogryph Riders soaring through the sky, Andreas stroked his chin thoughtfully. It seems that establishing a dedicated air force needs to be put on the agenda. Air superiority is a crucial element of warfare.
...
The pursuit of the fleeing Satyrs would continue for some time. These scattered Satyrs had completely lost their sense of order. Under Shandris's command, the pursuit units specifically targeted the largest groups, quickly dispersing the final forces gathered by the various clan leaders.
The Sentinels would continue to search for and eliminate these Satyrs hiding in the mountains and snowfields until their numbers were reduced to a point where they could no longer pose a threat to the Night Elves.
The Satyr strongholds of Frostsaber Rock and the Hidden Grove were captured one after another. Almost all clan leaders were killed under the targeted attention of the Night Elf coalition. The Satyrs had lost anyone capable of standing up and rallying the masses; from then on, they were utterly broken.
As the fighting in Winterspring reached its conclusion, good news also arrived from Felwood. Under the command of Shandris's deputy, Caroline Marshlight, the largest Satyr stronghold in Felwood—Shadowhold—was breached. The remaining Satyrs fled in panic through an emergency escape tunnel at the back of the fortress.
Under the pincer attack of the Greymist and Blackwood Furbolgs, Jadefire Glen to the south and Jadefire Run to the north were also conquered. This war, which had spanned nearly a year, finally officially came to a close.
The Sentinel force led by Shandris shone brilliantly in this war. Aside from a small amount of help from the Furbolgs, Ancients of War, and Dryads, the battle in Felwood ended without too much destruction to the forest thanks to the Sentinels' efforts.
The situation in Winterspring was relatively more complex. The elite strike team led by Xavarian had once used a feint to attack Mount Hyjal. However, thanks to Shandris tenaciously holding back the Satyr main force with inferior numbers—preventing Xavarian from receiving sufficient rear support—reinforcements from Moonshadow's Rest were able to arrive in time to lift the siege on Mount Hyjal.
Andreas had initially thought Tyrande would be insufferably arrogant after this victory, but to everyone's surprise, she remained very low-key after the war—unnaturally so. Thanks to the blessing of the World Tree, Night Elves are not plagued by illness, so Tyrande's strange behavior couldn't be due to sickness.
Malfurion was once quite confused by Tyrande's abnormal behavior, but aside from her sudden modesty, the High Priestess of Elune appeared to be in perfectly good health.
Considering Elune's cryptic warning from before, Andreas had a hunch. It was likely that Tyrande's decades of unbridled purging of dissent within the Sisterhood of Elune had drawn a warning from the goddess herself.
But Elune said she wanted to "take up my time"... what exactly does that mean?
The unique "500-year" time scale of this long-lived race left Andreas quite speechless.
Originally, Malfurion wanted to invite Andreas to Astranaar openly to attend the victory banquet, but after some consideration, Andreas chose to politely decline. Although Tyrande was currently in her most low-key phase in history, who knew how much fury she was bottling up inside?
Anyone could guess that the foolish woman would undoubtedly blame him for being singled out by Elune. If he were to strut around in front of her and trigger her rage, that would be a pointless disaster. There was no need to go there just to show off.
Moreover, Andreas had gained many new ideas during this war. Moonshadow's Rest still had many problems to solve one by one, and the gift he received from Goldrinn needed to be studied calmly.
He arranged for the Druid Ferian Riverwind to attend the banquet as his representative. Nasar and the others led the Moonshadow's Rest troops back in triumph first, while Andreas and Leticia stayed in Winterspring for a while.
Although the war was over, there were still many follow-up issues to resolve. Shandris also returned to Winterspring to oversee things after attending the banquet.
"Are you sure you want to pay a visit?" Shandris asked with a frown. "Although the relationship between Night Elves and the Dragonflights is decent, we are mortals after all. We can't guarantee every dragon will be as friendly toward mortals as Ysera and Alexstrasza."
Andreas waved his hand. "Don't worry. I've looked into it. The Blue Dragon stationed in Mazthoril is named Azuregos. He's willing to live so close to the World Tree, so he shouldn't have any prejudice against mortals."
And I remember this guy has a very strange sexual orientation... he falls in love with a Val'kyr later...
That's right, Azuregos was that "pervert" Blue Dragon who madly pursued Spirit Healers. Although Andreas didn't know if he had developed that bizarre preference yet, he probably wouldn't breathe frost all over them the moment they met... hopefully.
...
While Shandris remained in Winterspring, Andreas slowed down his pace of life and spent two cozy months with his girlfriend in Starfall Village.
Leticia, who was fed up with being the third wheel, didn't stay idle either. She pestered Lunara—who had not yet departed—all day, vowing to become her friend.
Leticia's Hydra, Aku'mai, disliked the harsh climate of Winterspring and was sent back to Moonshadow's Rest early after the war. As for the Moonkin hatchling Leticia had "adopted" previously, it had already passed away due to its natural lifespan.
Having experienced another parting of life and death, Leticia made up her mind that she would never again raise a companion that wasn't of a long-lived species. Perhaps because of her childhood experiences, Leticia—who usually seemed boisterous—was actually someone very afraid of loneliness.
While Andreas and Shandris enjoyed their "world of two," she consciously stayed away from the "dog food dispensers" and took Lunara as her new companion to ward off loneliness. Perhaps "moved" by Leticia's persistence, Lunara had recently given up struggling and allowed Leticia to hang around her all day.
Andreas and Shandris stood hand-in-hand on the star-gazing platform of Starfall Village, both looking at the scene below in complete silence.
Leticia was sitting sidesaddle on Lunara's deer-like back, cheering as she directed the resigned Dryad lady to run out of the village.
"...What is this? A new unit type—Dryad Cavalry?"