Chapter Five: Ambush

Almost. If she did, she'd probably need rescuing from a certain someone. Snorts and grunts alerted her to the enemies present. Her lapse in sense allowed a dozen or so bulblins to surround her. Before, she had encountered two others from the blin family. Neither the taller, bulky moblins nor the shorter, hunched bokoblins were nearly as ugly. They had green skin, beady red eyes, two yellow horns on their heads, and padded armor. Lila was glad a cloth mask covered their stinky, impish mouths.

"Time for a fight already?" Lila teased, weighing her options. Most held spiked clubs, but four stood farther out with bows ready to fire. One wrong move meant she and Zelda would get skewered. With her left hand out of commission, she'd only be able to fight one-handed. That ruled out her shield or bow. The hookshot might get them out of the circle, but would she be able to hold Zelda while using it? Then she wondered about the boomerang.

All logic flew out of the window when the bulblin in front of her began to talk.

"We no fight," the thing rasped. "Come with us."

Lila was stunned. She had no idea these monsters could talk, let alone in a language she understood. Reflecting her confusion, all she could say was, "You talk?"

The bulblins rolled their eyes. The leader said, "Yeah. Chief wants you. Come!"

How did she not know that they could talk? As one of Ganondra's main allies, Lila had seen many blinds around Gerudo. Maybe that's why they wanted her–she had switched sides just recently. Even then, she had killed a lot of blins during her training…

Oh. They probably had a huge grudge against her.

Hoping Zelda wouldn't get in harm's way, Lila said, "Depends. Let my friend go and then I'll go with you."

The bulblin leader's glance shifted to Zelda. He stared at her for a few seconds, probably trying to comprehend what Lila was asking. Finally, he said, "She go." He motioned with her head and two of the archers walked toward Lila and Zelda.

Lila felt every nerve crackling with energy. She decided to play along with whatever the bulblins wanted her to do… for a while.

"Lila," Zelda whispered, "do you know what you're doing?"

Lila nodded slightly, not wanting to scare the bulblins. "Just get out of here, Deliah," she said, using the first name that came to her. She didn't want the bulblins to know Zelda's name. To the blins, she said, "Let her go and I'll come quietly. I won't move until she's gone." To show that she meant it, she raised her hands away from her weapons.

"Yeah, yeah," said the leader, a bit impatient. "She go." He waved a scaly arm, and the archers stepped back to make a path. They still had their sights set on Lila.

Zelda looked worriedly at Lila, who nodded and said, "I'll be find. Go, quickly." She hoped Zelda wouldn't try to be all noble and disrupt her plan.

Zelda sighed, though she looked absolutely miserable, and walked out of the clearing. Lila was glad to see that all eyes stayed on herself and not Zelda. That meant they really didn't care about anyone else.

"You, come," the leader bulblin said as soon as Zelda was out of sight.

"Okay, I'm coming," Lila said. She felt so vulnerable with her hands raised and a dozen enemies ready to kill her, but she wanted to wait until Zelda had enough time to get as far away as possible.

"Tie up–" the leader said.

"That wasn't the deal!" Lila protested.

The archers drew back their arrows, and the ones with clubs took steps forward, but the leader put up a hand.

"You right. How we trust you?"

Lila swallowed hard. "You have all of the control, here. Do you really think I'll try anything with all of your weapons pointed at me?"

"Yes. Tie up. Take weapons." The leader waved again, and the two archers did as they were told.

Lila's heart pounded. This wasn't part of the plan. How could she escape if they took her weapons? One bulblin took her sword and other weapons. He looked her over meticulously until he was sure he got everything. He even took her tool belt, which hid even more weapons.

The other blin was very good at tying rope. The rough hemp bit into her already aching wrists. Lila tried wiggling her hands just slightly, but the small movement only made the pain worse. There was no way she'd be able to free herself without a blade.

"No fight," the leader barked.

"I'm not," Lila answered quickly. "It just hurts."

"Good."

Lila didn't like that reply. They obviously needed her alive, but they didn't care if anything else happened to her. She had to be careful not to anger them. Who knows if they'd decide to cut her arm off or something?

Once the leader was satisfied that she was secure, he grunted something, and everyone turned to him. The group gathered close around Lila. She could smell them, a putrid smell that almost made her gag. They were all shorter than her, especially since their shoulder slumped forward. Some of the clubs brushed into Lila, or were shoved at her, as they started moving forward. Oh yeah. These guys didn't like her.

"Where are you taking me?" Lila questioned.

"Chief Gosthard," the leader replied. "Quiet."

Lila figured that meant for her to be quiet. That was fine with her. She surveyed her situation again. The seven bulblins with clubs surrounded her closely, close enough to repeatedly hit her with their clubs. The leader walked a few paces ahead, carrying his own spiked club. The four archers had spread out again, their eyes trained on her. Even if she somehow miraculously escaped the rope, the archers would skewer her before she got near even one of them. She felt there was no hope for her plan, now. She would have to wait and see where they took her and if there was a way to escape there. She really hoped so.

Her weapons were spread among the bulblins. The leader had fastened her belt around his waist. Her Master Sword hung on his back. One bulblin carried her boomerang, another her gauntlets, a third played with her daggers…

"Hey, those are mine!" she shouted.

The leader halted the company and spun around on his heel. He held out his club menacingly. "You be quiet, I said!"

"Sorry," Lila mumbled, bowing her head. She wasn't ready to pick a fight yet. She remained silent the rest of the journey, in the dark of night.

∴

Zelda hid among the trees until the group of bulblins took Lila away. She wished she could follow them, but worried she'd get lost. No, she had to find Prince Zale and warn him. Hopefully, she would find Link as well. He would be able to save Lila. First, she had to find her way out of the woods.