Hyrule under Fire

Besieged

"Soldiers! Gather to me!" Fully armored, wounds bandaged, Arn rallied all available personnel within the walls: soldiers, Castle Guards, several knights and their squires…and one warrior of great size and age, his bushy white beard resting upon his breastplate like a mat, left eye afflicted with past injuries.

A battalion of around thirty bodies were present, Arn standing tall upon the steps leading into the barracks, some Castle Guards looking down from the battlements.

Arn walked amidst his men, taller than most of them, sometimes patting their armor or checking that their equipment was proper. "As you all know, the rebels are going to assault the castle! Defend the Royal Family and your freedom with your life!"

"Just us? This is all?" Kevin squeaked, Arn walking back up the barracks stairs.

The soldiers were distraught. "There's hundreds of rioters! If not thousands!" "We cannot hold back so many on our own!" "They will overrun us!" "What about the Royal Guards!?"

Arn walked down the steps, still a little sore between the legs. "The Royal Guards are protecting the monarchy in the keep. It is our job to secure the exterior."

"What about the rest of the knights? Do we have any reinforcements?"

A knight shrugged. "Don't know. I saw some knights preparing for war before I came to the castle. They and the town guards are probably fighting for their lives in the streets."

"Any help, anywhere?"

Arn answered, "Yesterday, I had stationed the rest of the garrison out in the mountains and at Lake Hylia. They must aid refugees and travelers, and prepare for the main rebel army, less they rampage across the countryside. The plan was to attack the rebel army in two fronts and destroy them, but they keep moving around out west. I recently sent a messenger to gather reinforcements from the mountains, but whether they arrive on time..."

The guards were distraught.

"That means we're all you get," a squire commented, patting a comrade's shoulder.

"We're all you need!" a knight assured, tapping his sword against his shield.

Some soldiers grunted, shaking their heads. "What difference does this make..."

Arn put his hand on the man's shoulder. "With the Goddesses' blessing, the faith of a few will overcome the multitude of the faithless."

The echoes of the rampaging mob neared Hyrule Castle; an explosion sounded, the soldiers jumping.

A Castle Guard atop the walls gripped the battlements, regaining composure. "They blew up the outer gate!"

"The rebels have bombs!?" another exclaimed.

The soldiers below murmured in fear.

"Ooo! I like it when things get hot!" the huge warrior remarked, grinding a stone along his berdiche then shaving with it to check sharpness. "Just show me a rebel's throat!"

"Jenard!" Arn moved his cape aside, getting everyone's attention. "Remember your grandchildren. They need you alive. Do not take needless risks, you are so close to retirement."

The huge warrior calmed down, sort of. "If any rebel even touches Pell or Grey…"

"And put on a helmet," a guard suggested.

Jenard snorted. "I don't wear helmets."

The movement of the incoming horde shook the earth itself, fueled by their hatred while more of the town burned behind them. "Storm the castle!" "Down with the Royal Family!" "Dethrone the King!" "We're taking over now!" "Burn everything to the ground!"

The Castle Guards above nervously watched the impending horde. "There's so many of them..." "Oh, come on, we can do this!" "Good thing we're safe up here!"

Clanking reverberated throughout the walls.

"The hell's that?" Jenard grumbled, everyone else also confused.

A squire looked around. "The rebels haven't reached the castle yet... No bombs blew, either... Wait! The drawbridge!?"

The Castle Guards atop the battlements ran along the walls while everyone below went over, watching in horror as the drawbridge steadily opened.

"Erol! What are you doing!?" a Castle Guard screamed. "Leave the drawbridge up! Leave it up! Erol! Erol!? You hear me!?"

While the Castle Guards above scurried to find out what was going on, Arn and his men positioned themselves behind the drawbridge, blocking access into the castle.

The rebels stampeded, most armed with improvised weapons though some had swords and partial armor, such former soldiery now insurgents.

"Here they come!" Arn warned.

"About damn time," Jenard stated.

The rebels leading the charge ignited bombs with their torches…

"Ahh! I can't believe this!" Kevin cried as the sizzling bombs arched or rolled across the drawbridge.

Arn kicked an incoming bomb into the moat, his comrades following suite. Jenard, however, used his berdiche to bat a bomb mid-air back at the rebels, who dispersed. The next volley of bombs flew, some thudding against helmets, all bombs either kicks into the moat or thrown back at the rebels. The explosions, however, had little effect stopping the rest of the horde pouring towards the castle, the rebels unphased by explosives and trampling those blown off their feet!

"These people are crazy!" Kevin yelled. "We're not gonna hold them back!"

"No mercy!" Arn shouted.

The knights struck their swords and Hylian Shields together, battlecries reverberating through the night air, though the guards…more or less stuck their spears out and cowered.

Wild-eyed, the initial rebels went up the stone steps and avalanched into the battalion, the cowering soldiers not even having to aim their spears to skewer a madman. The knights, their squires, Arn and Jenard stood their ground, exchanging furious blows; before them, dead and dying rebels piled atop each other.

"Fire in the hole!" a Castle Guard atop the walls warned, sizzling bombs tossed from the crenelations and cracking the heads of rebels rushing the drawbridge—the bombs simultaneously went off, the eruption hurling rebels asunder but slightly damaging the drawbridge.

The rebels hesitated after the explosion, giving the defenders a chance to breathe.

"When is the damn drawbridge closing!?" Arn barked.

"We're trying to enter the gatehouse! Someone barricaded the door from the inside!" a Castle Guard above shouted. "We'll need to break it with mattocks!"

Meanwhile, down below, the rebels reorganized after the blasts. More ran up the stone stairs, jumped over their fallen, and charged the defenders with greater fury; the damaged drawbridge creaked underneath so much weight.

Enraged, the rebels threw themselves upon the soldiers' spears, writhing up the shafts while blood drooled out their mouths, attacking wildly even with spearheads rammed inside them.

Their spears stuck inside enemies' bodies, the soldiers let go of the immobilized weapons, withdrew daggers, and grappled with the rebels while stabbing continuously. Amidst the struggle, both sides of the battle swayed forward and backward atop the creaky drawbridge.

Jenard raised his berdiche and stuck a leaping rebel mid-air. "Gotcha! Now go for a swim!" He swung him over, the rebel peeling off the berdiche and splashing into the moat.

Arn cut and thrust while his armor and shield withstood many blows, sparks flying about. He stabbed a rebel in the stomach, the rebels behind pushing their comrade forwards until Arn's blade popped out the stabbed rebel's back. Dagger unsheathed, Arn rammed it hilt-deep into the skewered rebel's temple, looming club falling harmlessly. Unable to retrieve his sword, Arn left it in his fallen foe's. The next rebel struck Arn's helm with a torch, embers and smoke flowing up his nose. Coughing, Arn slit the rebel's throat then pushed him into the moat.

With their greater numbers, the rebels' momentum gradually tottered the defenders.

"Bombs!" Arn warned as he swatted aside an incoming explosive with his shield. While rebels encroached on him, he repeatedly punched his shield at them, then shoving, grappling and stabbing when they came face-to-face.

Screaming his head off during self-flagellation, a religious fanatic with Triforces carved throughout his skin charged forth, a dozen bombs chained against his body, all fuses hissing. Taken aback, the defenders flinched as the howling maniac leapt over his comrades, exploding mid-air in a final act of mortification.

Rebels and defenders alike were hurled asunder, some falling into the moat.

Arn rolled onto his back, dazed, hearing only high-pitched ringing in his ears. Unable to feel his legs, Arn noticed most soldiers, Castle Guards and squires had either fallen or fled, though the few remaining knights fought on.