Warcraft: Official Movie Novelization

The other orc who stood beside him Lothar had once considered beautiful. But to him, now, Garona was more abominable than the fel-twisted creature she stood beside. Their eyes met.

Garona had to use every ounce of her strong will not to break down weeping as Lothar stared at her. How she had not done so before now, she did not know, but she needed to be stronger than she had ever been. Lothar’s eyes glittered like those of a feral creature. She could see in them his broken heart, for Llane’s death, for her betrayal. He looked like he would welcome his death. But Garona would not.

“Kill him!” Gul’dan ordered, pointing a sharp-nailed finger at Lothar.

The human looked at the orc warlock for a moment, then hoisted the body of his fallen king across his shoulders—armor and all. His knees buckled, but only slightly, then Lothar turned his back on his enemy, walking steadily toward the gryphon. To safety.

“Kill him!” shrieked Gul’dan, froth on his green, withered lips.

The other orcs shifted their weight, but still did not move. Lothar did not slow. They were uneasy with their leader now, where once before they had followed him with something akin to worship. Something had changed, something more than the simple failure of the gate. Anduin Lothar had defeated the mightiest warrior the Horde had ever known in a fair and honorable mak’gora. The orcs would not turn against him now.

“The mak’gora is sacred, and the human has won his duel,” Garona said to her former master. Her heart raced in her chest, but she kept her voice calm. She would betray nothing to either Gul’dan or Lothar. She gestured to Blackhand’s fallen, gargantuan body. “Let them pay respect to their dead war chief. Let your warriors have their tradition.”

But the warlock would not let it go. He turned his attention from the retreating form of the human to his Horde. “What are you waiting for?” he demanded. “I save your miserable lives and you thank me like this? Do as I say!”

His words were not having the effect he intended. In fact, Garona realized, they had just the opposite. Orcs who had looked uneasy just a moment ago now had their jaws set. Gul’dan saw it too.

“Traitors!” he spat. “Obey my orders!”

One of them, pushed too far by Gul’dan’s insult, shouted back defiantly, “You would not be alive to give orders if you had fought Durotan fairly!”

Garona thought Gul’dan would strike down the insolent orc. But though he seemed maddened by rage, he was not yet that unwise. He sneered at them, then turned toward Lothar, who was nearly to the gryphon—and safety—by this point. “Get out of my way,” he said to his defiant Horde. “I’ll do it myself!”

So the noble Durotan was gone, as well. The news was expected, but it still hurt Garona, but not as much as Gul’dan’s last words. Lothar might have been able to defeat Blackhand, fel-bloated though that orc had been. But he could not stand against the full might of Gul’dan’s fel. He would die.

Garona knew she should let that happen. The Horde was already unhappy with their leader. If he were to kill Lothar now, there was a very good chance that they would turn on him. And if she became their leader, she could broker peace.

But Lothar would die. And Garona couldn’t bear it. A peace would come, perhaps. But it would not be today. There was no hesitation in her heart or her body as she darted forward, placing herself between the man she loved, who believed her a betrayer, and the Horde leader, who believed her true.

May Gul’dan still think so, she thought, then spoke, harnessing her anger and rage into hard words. “Who will obey you if you go to war with your own kind?”

He stared at her, his green eyes venomous, her life in his hands. Calculatedly, Garona let her voice quiet to tones of reason. Earlier, Gul’dan had given her a title she had dreamed of all her life: orc. She had honor in the Horde’s eyes, exactly as Llane had anticipated. The warlock could not attack her outright, but her words had to be exactly right—or she and Lothar both would die.

“You saved us, Gul’dan. Brought us to this new world. But we cannot abandon our ways. If you do this, you will lose the Horde. You are our chieftain. We already know you are strong with the fel. Now, it is time to show us a different kind of power. A chieftain puts the needs of his people first.”

Unbidden, and unwanted, the memory rushed back. Standing with Taria, speaking of Durotan. He freed me… and he is loved by his clan. He puts their needs first. Always. He is a strong chieftain.

Strong chiefs must earn their clans’ trust.

Taria, giving Garona her dagger, which Garona had returned embedded in Llane’s throat.