Chapter 10

Illyria and the rest of the expedition came to a halt outside of Hodir's main chamber. They had run from the Conservatory of Life and were winded. The Mages under Llana's command conjured up some refreshment tables for the rest of the forces. The torches which had been ignited in the Conservatory still blazed.

"Remember, Mages, maintain the bonfire and free anyone frozen by Hodir. We must quickly thaw the Horde." Llyria boomed.

The troops quickly mobilized and stood ready.

You…shall…

"Attack!" Illyria screamed, throwing her shield at Hodir.

…fail…

Illyria and the Alliance footmen charged towards Hodir. The Warriors used their paralyzing techniques to keep him in place while the Rogues applied as much poison to him as possible, hoping to do as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Llana and the other Mages quickly went to work creating a bonfire and melting the Horde soldiers out of their icy prisons. She found Skorrn and made sure to free him first. He immediately came to life and nodded his thanks to Llana. Methodically, the Mages, under Llana's command, freed all the soldiers. Though wet and chilled to the core, the soldiers joined the fight against the Titan.

A roaring bonfire blazed strong in the center of the room, with the flames nearly reaching the ceiling. The sudden introduction of heat into the environment negatively affected the room's architecture. The ice crystals that hung from the ceiling, formed by thousands of years of biting cold, began to melt and their connection to the ceiling began to thaw.

Less than a minute after the bonfire reached its fiery potential, the ice that layered the ceiling began falling to the ground.

Time was key in freeing Hodir from Yogg-Saron's control. Illyria hoped that Hodir would indicate to them when he was free from the Old God's control, afraid that they would do more damage than needed.

"Intruders! The winds of the north will shatter your bones!" Hodir boomed as began sucking the air towards him.

"This is it! He'll freeze us all now." Llana cried.

As Hodir sucked all the air in, more of the ceiling collapsed, forming raised platforms on the floor. Skorrn had an idea.

"Get on the ice mounds! Get on the ice mounds! The wave of air won't reach that high!" He yelled, climbing up the nearest mound.

The soldiers of the expedition climbed onto the mounds of ice on the floor, hoping the high ground would spare them from Hodir's blast of ice. The Titan unleashed his frozen fury, freezing only a few stragglers who had yet to follow Skorrn's orders.

The Mages quickly freed those trapped on the ground and directed their attention back to maintaining the bonfire, which lost some potency during Hodir's assault.

The footmen, led by Illyria hopped of the mounds and resumed their attack against Hodir.

Stop…stop…

Illyria shook of the Old God's whispers and doubled her efforts against Hodir, who began to sway.

"Enough! This ends now!" Hodir screamed, slamming his fists into the ground, shattering the mounds of ice that the soldiers hid on. Then, he raised his fists into the air and began to channel another blast of frozen fury.

"End this now, lok'tar ogar!" Skorrn boomed.

This time Hodir's assault took longer to charge than before. The room shook and the walls began to fall apart. The Titan's concentration drew all the debris and ice in the room to him.

He's not going to freeze us, Skorrn realized, he's going to impale us.

"HARDER!" Skorrn screamed. The Mages stopped maintaining the bonfire and directed their assault towards Hodir. The Titan's concentration suffered when the Mages unleashed on him and all the debris that surrounded him crashed to the floor.

Hodir screamed began to swat at the mortals that stood at his feet.

"You have taken just one of my champions. The others will not fall as quickly as this pathetic fool!" Hodir bellowed.

Yogg-Saron's giving up control! Illyria thought.

"Stop! Stop! Break off the attack!" She screamed. The footmen immediately halted their attack and the spellcasters followed accordingly.

Hodir fell to his knees and let out another horrifying scream. He put his hands on his head and closed his eyes. After a few agonizing seconds, the scream stopped and Hodir opened his eyes. He saw Illyria and stood up.

"What…have…I done?" He asked quietly, looking at his hands.

"You were under the control of Yogg-Saron, Titan. We freed you." Illyria responded calmly, her weapon still clutched in her hand.

"Please forgive my weakness." Hodir said, hanging his head.

"Where is your sigil?" Skorrn asked, approaching the Titan.

"What?" Hodir was dazed.

"Your sigil. We require it." Skorrn repeated sharply.

Hodir turned and walked over to the rear wall of his chamber. He slammed his fist into the ice wall and thrust his arm inside. He retracted his arm with a brilliantly glowing disk in his giant hand. It pulsed bright blue and waves of frost emanated from it.

"I assume you seek to gain access to the Old God's prison?" He asked, reluctantly presenting his sigil to Skorrn.

"Yes. We're also seeking to gain access to the Celestial Planetarium." Illyria offered, while Skorrn walked away with the sigil. Hodir seemed startled by her knowledge of the Planetarium.

"Has Algalon been summoned?" He asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Yes. You and the rest of the Keepers became corrupted by the Old God and his influence has begun to spread. We're going to kill Yogg-Saron and try to convince Algalon that the planet does not need reorigination." Skorrn retorted.

"So it's my fault that the planet will be destroyed?" Hodir said quietly.

"Nonsense. We'll stop it. But we could use some help." Illyria suggested.

"Of course. What do you need me to do?" Hodir replied cheerily.

"We need your help in freeing the other Keepers." Skorrn said.

"Which of my Titan kin remain under the Old God's sway?" He asked bitterly.

"You are the first we've freed. We could use your help in…persuading…the others." Illyria responded.

Hodir nodded.

"It is best that we should free Freya and Thorim before engaging Mimiron. Though we are all powerful Titans, the mechanized and robotic horrors that no doubt guard Mimiron will be insurmountable without the help of the other Titans." He asserted.

"Let's get moving then. We haven't much time. Whom shall we free first?" Illyria asked.

"I would guess that Freya will be the easiest to convince. She is the most benevolent of us and I would imagine that Yogg-Saron's sway over her might not be as strong as mine." The Titan postulated.

"Very well. Soldiers of the Horde, to the Conservatory of Life!" Skorrn boomed.

The Alliance soldiers looked at Illyria who nodded. The expedition, with Hodir among their ranks, set off towards the Conservatory of Life. Skorrn presented the sigil to a low-level soldier and ordered that it be delivered to Brann who was resting back at the camp.

* * *

Illyria once again stood in the lush Conservatory of Life; however, this time she had the power of the Horde and the ice Titan to support her.

"Where is Freya?" She asked, scanning the vast garden that stretched on for miles. Hodir stepped forward and searched the garden as well.

"I am uncertain. She may be disguising herself as one of the plants." Hodir suggested. "We need to force her to show herself."

"How will we do that?" Skorrn asked.

"Deforestation." Jacob responded before the Titan could say it. "We'll have to destroy this place."
Sadness fell over Illyria's heart. The Conservatory was a beautiful garden and it would pain her to destroy it.

"This place is vast. It'll take us at least a day to cover the entire place." She offered, trying to save the garden.

"So be it, we've got time until Algalon arrives, and this is the only way to find Freya." Jacob responded.

"How long until the Herald of the Titans arrives?" Hodir asked nervously.

"Just under forty hours." Skorrn responded, glancing at an hourglass he kept in his robes. "We'd better split up, designate a group to go with each Mage."

"Absolutely not. If one group that's an hour away from another group finds Freya…" Illyria started.

"The woman makes a point." Hodir offered.

"We'll be more secure traveling in one big group." Illyria concluded. "We should also think about letting the soldiers get some rest. They haven't had any rest since the night we killed the Flame Leviathan. It's starting to show."

Skorrn hadn't even felt the effects of exhaustion until Illyria pointed out just how hard they'd been working.

"Let's give them five hours to sleep, wash up, and eat." Skorrn decided.

Illyria nodded and sent Jacob to send the order to the troops. Though the troops were back a few hundred years, Skorrn and Illyria heard the cheer that erupted when Jacob informed them of their rest.

"Rest mortals, you look weary." Hodir said calmly.

"I think I shall. What will you do in the time being?" Illyria asked, yawning.

"I'll go look for Freya, maybe I can find some traces of her somewhere so we know where to start." The Titan suggested.

Illyria and Skorrn nodded and Hodir set off into the vast jungle.

For the first time since their late-meeting on the first day, Skorrn and Illyria were alone.

"Have you come to a decision on who your candidate for Val'anyr will be?" Skorrn asked.

"Vilena, the Draenei Priestess. She's one of our most gifted healers and dedicated officers. I feel comfortable giving her such power. How about you? Who will represent the Horde?" Illyria asked, suspecting that she knew the answer.

"I've been selected by the other officers. I was selected from a pool of several candidates. It will be a great honor to be considered for the weapon." Skorrn said. Illyria detected an air of false humility, but did not comment on it.

What she said next nearly knocked the wind out of Skorrn's body.

"You will wield Val'anyr." She decided calmly.

"I thought we were letting Brann decide?" He said, shocked.

"Brann is under enough stress as it is. This will be one less decision he has to make. Varian will be furious that I let the Horde temporarily wield such a powerful weapon, but I think it's for the good of the expedition." She whispered.

"Well. Thank…thank you, Illyria. That's very noble of you. I…would be…unable…to make a similar decision." He said honestly.

"Yes, I know." She nodded.

There was an awkward pause between the two. Neither wished to acknowledge guilt for the clash after Kologarn's defeat.

"Enjoy your rest, Illyria." Skorrn said, assuming a meditative pose.

"You're not sleeping?" She said, laying down on the ground, removing her tabard.

"No. I can receive more energy from meditation with the Earth Mother than I can through mere rest." He said, closing his eyes.

Illyria shrugged and decided to sleep on the platform overlooking the Conservatory. The view was beautiful and the sunlight warmed her, beckoning her to sleep. She bunched up her tabard and formed a pillow, falling asleep just as her head came to rest on the impromptu pillow.

* * *

Illyria was woken up by the sound of an approaching thunder. She bolted upright and scanned the foliage. Skorrn was awakened by sound as well and stood up, alert. Both their hearts pounded.

Out from the tree-line burst Hodir, flowery sentinels in-tow. He quickly froze them all and shattered their brittle bodies. He turned and ran towards the two commanders.

"Well? Did you find Freya?" Skorrn asked.

"Yes. She rests at a clearing, right near a bend in the river. It's not very far from here." He responded.

"How long have you been gone for?" Illyria asked, attempting to gauge how long they had been asleep.

Hodir held a hand up to the sun and curved his hand. Skorrn did the same. Illyria was confused by the motion and desperately awaited their response.

"At least eight hours." Skorrn responded. Hodir nodded in agreement.

Thrity-two hours remaining. There's no more time for resting. Illyria cursed her exhaustion.

Time…wasted…

Illyria shook her head and ran to Skorrn.

"I'll go fetch Jacob and the others." She said.

"No need, lass!" A voice boomed from behind her. She turned around to see the entire expedition, led by Jacob, Zubra'Jin, and Brann arriving at the Conservatory.

"Ye lazy bones have rested lon' enough. We've got work te do." Brann joked. Illyria smiled while Skorrn rolled his eyes. She ran to the Dwarf and bent over to whisper something in his ear.

"I've come to a decision about Val'anyr. Give it to Skorrn." She whispered.

Brann was shocked, but nodded his head.

"Hodir knows Freya's location, we must be off!" Illyria boomed. "Lead the way, Titan!"

Hodir led them to forest that covered most of the garden.

"The way is narrow, but mostly free of danger. Follow me. It won't be long until we face Freya." Hodir said, running into the woods.

Skorrn rallied his soldiers and ran after the Titan.

She's…plotting…against…you….She…must…die…

Skorrn knew the Old God was trying to break him but was finding it harder and harder to resist his whispers.