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Hylian soldiers had already breached the remainder of the walls of Nal Ordona. Fighting was rampant both within and without the city.
The screams and shouts of fighting and dying soldiers echoed through the sky, mixed with the clinking and clanging of steel clashing against steel.
Bo had ordered an evacuation of the city's civilian populace – and it was underway –, but the attack had arrived so fast, many non-combatants were caught up in the confusion and violence of the battle.
Within the city walls, Sheik was commander of the Rebel forces. Along with Bo, he directed and aided the Rebels against the Royalists, many enemies fell to his weapons and skills.
He dashed to the left, his knee connecting with a Royalist's jaw, knocking him to the floor. He turned around quickly, and threw a few needles through another opponent's throat. A soldier charged him, and he dropped down low to sweep them to the ground. The Royalist tumbled to the dirt, and he dropped his knee onto their neck.
"WHO'S NEXT?" Sheik yelled out, daring more Hylian Soldiers to attack him.
A Royalist let out a war cry, and came at him with a halberd. It cut Sheik across the arm, and he staggered a bit, growling in pain. As the soldier pulled back, Sheik grabbed hold of the polearm, and yanked it back towards himself, bringing his enemy with it. The Royalist now within reach, Sheik headbutted the man powerfully, knocking him to the floor. He then stomped his foot onto the man's skull as fiercely as he could. He then turned towards another nearby opponent, and threw a needle right between his eyes.
"TAKE NO PRISONERS!" he ordered his men, as he leapt into the air to strike at another foe.
Another Royalist was gruesomely bludgeoned, and Onox pulled back his flail. He laughed to himself as he swung the giant iron ball over his head, warding away his foes. He slammed the flail's head into the ground, knocking nearby Royalists off their feet. He then charged the incapacitated soldiers, and flung his weapon into them, crushing them where they lied.
He turned to continue fighting, and saw General Arcturio staring him down.
"Captain Onox," Arcturio said, his expression somber. "You were once a loyal soldier of the Kingdom of Hyrule. You served well."
Onox gripped the handle of his flail, raising it up. "Retreat or die, Arcturio!"
"Call off your forces and surrender," Arcturio said, drawing his sword and pointing it at Onox. "Don't make this any harder, Onox. Stand down."
Onox made no reply. He smiled, and yelled a loud, wordless war cry, swing his flail around in the air as he charged towards Arcturio.
Arcturio rolled out of the way as Onox's flail came crashing down – quite nimbly for a man his age – and swung his sword, cutting into Onox's side.
Onox let out a thunderous roar as he fell to one knee. He snarled, and lifted himself up and flung the head of his flail towards Arcturio. Again, Arcturio moved out of the way, albeit less effectively this time. The giant spiked ball grazed his side, and knocked him to the ground.
He tried to rise to his feet, but before he could, Onox was already on top of him.
"You're not the one who needs to die today, Onox," Arcturio told him.
"Oh, I won't be the one dying," Onox answered, and reached down to lift up Arcturio by the throat. He lifted the old soldier up, holding him over a foot off the ground.
Arcturio gasped in Onox's grasp, still gripping his sword. Mustering forth his strength, he thrust the sword towards Onox. He pierced the giant's thick armor, cutting into his shoulder.
Onox shouted in pain, and let Arcturio fall to the ground. He dropped to his knees, and let go of his flail, his arm going to clutch at the wound in his shoulder. Arcturio stood up before him, and delivered a swift kick to Onox's face, knocking him down into the dirt.
Onox managed to climb to all fours, and looked up – only to see Arcturio disappear into the sea of fighting soldiers.
Within the prison walls, Link and a detachment of his men stood guard. He alone was within Zelda's block. He'd been ordered to stay within the prison to ensure that the Royalists didn't rescue her.
The prison walls shook as another boulder landed near the building.
The screams and shouts of battle, albeit muffled, could be heard coming from outside the prison.
The fighting seemed to grow closer – the noise clearer.
Link raised his sword, prepared to rush outside and fend off attackers.
One of his men came crashing through the cell block door.
"What the hell?" he exclaimed, looking back to the door.
An old man in crimson armor, his gray hair coming down to his shoulders stood in the doorway. General Arcturio of the Hylian Army.
Link raised his sword.
"Stand aside, boy," Arcturio said. "I'm not here to kill you."
"I can't just stand back and let you take her," Link answered, and charged towards the old man.
Arcturio drew his sword, and parried Link's thrust, and delivered a powerful punch to his stomach.
Link fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of him. He gasped for air as Arcturio stepped over him towards Zelda.
"General Arcturio," Zelda said. "Thank the heavens you've arrived! Link – the jailer – has the keys! But don't hurt him, please."
Arcturio grabbed Link and lifted him up off the ground, and snatched the keys off of his belt. "Get out of here," he said. "Surrender to my men, and you'll be treated fairly as a prisoner of war."
He turned away from Link, and went to unlock Zelda's cell. The door opened, and Zelda walked through it.
"Thank you so much, General," she said, bowing.
"I'm sorry, Princess," Arcturio told her, and raised his sword. Zelda looked up, her eyes wide with horror as she understood what was going on.
Arcturio's sword plunged downwards, and Zelda closed her eyes.
There was a loud clang of steel, and Zelda was not hurt.
She opened her eyes, and saw Link between her and Arcturio, his sword holding back the General's. He pushed the old man back, and raised his sword.
"Run!" he ordered Zelda, and charged at Arcturio.
Arcturio deflected the blow, and kicked Link away. He turned towards Zelda and chased after her.
Link leapt towards him and caught his leg, knocking him off his feet and down to the cell block's cold, stone floor.
Arcturio looked back, and kicked Link off of his leg. He rose to his feet, picking up his sword, and stabbed Link in the leg to incapacitate him. Then he turned back towards Zelda.
He raised his sword again, to finish the job. "You deserved far better," he said.
Suddenly, Impa rushed in through the open doorway, tackling Arcturio to the ground. She began to pummel him, and turned to Zelda. "Milady! Run!" she ordered, "Now!" She turned to Link and said, "Go with her! Keep her safe!"
Link nodded and ran for the door. He took Zelda by the hand and rushed out of the prison with her.
Arcturio threw Impa off of him, and stood up.
"Impa," he said, his expression sorrowful. "I wish you hadn't been here."
"You would betray your Kingdom, and murder the Princess," Impa questioned him, "yet you dare to feign concern for me?"
"I feign nothing," he answered her, raising his sword. "But I have sworn an oath. And I will do my duty. You cannot be allowed to leave. I am sorry."
Arcturio slashed his sword at the Sheikah woman, but she deftly evaded the strike, and drew a knife from the sheath on her boot. She ran at Arcturio, keeping low, and stabbed the blade into leg.
He cried out in pain, and stumbled back, trying his hardest to remain afoot.
He swung his weapon around in an attempt to hit Impa, but missed as she dropped to the floor to avoid the blade.
"Hold still," he said, "and I will try to make this painless."
Impa made no reply, and backflipped away from him, her foot colliding with his face as she did so, knocking him back some.
Arcturio straightened himself up and rubbed his jaw. He dashed towards Impa, and rammed into her with his shoulder, knocking her into the bars of the cell. Seeing her down, he walked up to her, lifting his blade into the air.
"Be at peace, Impa," he said, remorsefully. "You've served Hyrule well."
As he prepared to finish her off, Impa swiftly drew a needle from her waist pouch, and threw it directly into Arcturio's right eye.
Immediately, he dropped his sword, and instinctively put his hands over his eye, fingers around the needle. He fell to the floor, landing on his knees, groaning in immense pain.
Impa saw a window, and took the opportunity to slip away.
The battle raged on throughout the streets of Nal Ordona. Buildings burned. Bodies dropped. Weapons clashed. Flaming boulders flew through the air and rained down around the city.
It was absolute chaos.
Link and Zelda stopped for nothing.
Any man tried to stop then, they were beaten back or cut down.
The two made their way for the stables – damaged, but still standing.
Epona was still tied up, as Link had left her. She was agitated and frightful, eager to run off at a moment's notice.
Link approached her, and attempted to calm her down. He petted the mare's snout, and climbed on her back. He extended his hand to Zelda, and put her on the horse's back as well.
Cutting the rope that bound her to the stable, he whipped her reins, and the horse took off.
Towards the broken city gates they rode, Link swinging his blade to ward off anyone trying to stop them.
Out past the gates, past the warring Moblins and Royalists without the city, Epona galloped. Towards the north of Ordon, they went, heading for the Faron Woods.
A whistling noise grew louder, and giant burning boulder, launched form a catapult, crashed into the ground near them.
Epona was startled, and reared up on her hind legs, throwing both Link and Zelda off of her and to the ground.
Link stood up and tried to calm her down.
"Epona," he said. "Epona, calm down!"
The horse ignored him, and took off towards the Faron Woods without them.
Link groaned and closed his eyes in frustration, before turning to help Zelda up off the ground.
"Come on," he said, "We have to get out of here."
"I don't understand," Zelda said, "Why? Why would he want to kill me?"
"Zelda, please," Link said, "Now's not the time. We have to move."
Zelda nodded, sadness and confusion still quite evident in her expression.
Just as they began to move, Royalist soldiers approached them, their weapons drawn.
Link drew his sword to defend Zelda, assuming that they would try to kill her.
"Sergeant," one of them said, "That's the Princess!"
"All right, rebel scum," the Royalist Sergeant barked. "Let her go and surrender. Now."
Link narrowed his eyes and raised his sword in response.
The Sergeant smiled. "Kill him," he said.
The men all charged towards Link at once, their weapons drawn.
And suddenly, one by one, they all dropped to the ground as needles were flung into their necks.
Link looked around to see his rescuer, and saw Sheik approaching with a few Sheikah rebels.
He sheathed his sword. "Sheik? Oh, am I ever glad to see-"
Before he could finish, Sheik punched Link across the face, and knocked him down onto the ground. As he tried to lift himself up, Sheik kicked back into the dirt. He turned to his men, and pointed at Zelda. "Restrain her," he ordered. He then looked at Link, and stomped on his back. "Restrain them both," he said.
Two of Sheik's men lifted Link up off the ground, holding him secure as Sheik drew a dagger from his belt.
"What the hell are you doing?" Link demanded to know.
"Traitors are executed," Sheik spat.
"Traitor?" Link asked, angrily.
"How else do you expect trying to escape with the prisoner? How much did they pay you, huh?"
"Are you crazy?" Link asked. "I wasn't-"
"Shut him up!" Sheik ordered, and one of his men punched Link in the stomach, causing him to double over as they held him.
"Stop!" Zelda shouted.
"If she talks again, gag her," Sheik commanded, before turning back to Link. He grabbed him by his hair, and yanked his head to face upwards, exposing his neck. He lifted his knife to kill Link.
Seemingly from out of nowhere, Onox appeared and trapped Sheik in both arms, causing him to drop his knife.
"What the hell is going on here, Sheik?" Onox growled.
"He's a traitor!" Sheik snarled, struggling in Onox's grasp. "He was trying to escape with the Princess!"
"The Royalists were trying to kill her!" Link said. "I was just trying to keep her alive!"
"Damned lying filth!" Sheik yelled back.
"It's true," Zelda said, hanging her head.
Onox narrowed his eyes and set Sheik down. "Clap them in irons," Onox said.
Sheik scowled, unhappy with Onox's decision. "He'll only jeopardize us, we need to kill him!"
The giant ignored Sheik's protests and turned to his men. "Him too," Onox said, pointing at Sheik.
"What?" Sheik shouted, outraged as the men shackled him.
All three were chained together and placed on a wagon. Onox turned to one of his men and ordered, "Ordon is lost. Governor Beauregard has been captured, and the city has fallen. We're pulling out. Sound the retreat."
"Aye, sir," the soldier answered. He grabbed a trump from another wagon and sounded the retreat.
The blaring echoed throughout the skies of over Nal Ordona.
Whatever Rebels that hadn't been captured or killed made their escape from the city.
The Ordona Rebellion was finished.