Zelda. The voice now shook her along with the tremors the shook the castle. The two could hear violent screams of the guests on the other side of the door and the clanging of weapons. The speeding earthquake brought Link closer to her to protect her from the falling rocks. Hyrule Castle was built on and inside of a mountain to crest extra protection against outside attacks. The castle itself was a built as an stronghold to protect the royal family and the nation's last stand if there were was great conflict. Zelda's room was partially built inside of the rock so any debris could fatally injure either of them if they were not careful. Link's hand latched onto Zelda's wrists and swiftly motioned to her bedroom door.
Try a different way. Zelda's instincts used all of her arm strength to pull Link back. The ground below and above them shuddered more violently, giving out and eventually heavy rocks fell to baricade the door. Link brought her the other way and opened the door that lead to her balcony and the stairs that led to the east passage.
The door lead them to a scene too macabre. Soldiers and knights were sprawled around the castle fighting off guardian machinery. The eyes of all of the castle's guardian stalkers, skywatchers, turrets, and sentries were possessed by a dark red light. They treated as though the knights were the enemy and aimed their beams at them. Many of the soldiers were cramped under a little spot under a little alcove under the castle wall. Those would were brave enough were either grouped into squads that toke one guardian at a time or lying dead in their pool of bloody vain. The castle wasn't going to be saved but Link wanted to do anything in his power to keep the Princess safe, to fulfill the oath he made to the king of course.
Link jumped to her wardrobe to find a ratty, old cloak to wrap the princess around and threw it to her. He readied his weapons and Hylian shield and studied the scene before acting. Link turned to the princess, "Are you ready?"
Zelda weakly nodded and her hand grasped his calloused hand tightly, for her safety and comfort, under cloak. Link opened the door and they rushed down the stairs that connected her balcony to a large ledge the castle was built upon. They narrowly avoided the gaze of the rogue skywalkers, though Link had to deflect one of its wild blue lasers before they proceeded to the end of the staircase.
A nearby guardian turret at the bottom of the staircase sensed their arrival and turned to charge its laser. He let go of her hand to push her behind him and readied his shield for the beam the turret was preparing a few meters away. He deflected the first two right back at it sender and was readying to deflect another until a skywalker began aiming behind him, right at Zelda. Link waited until both were going to fire at the same time before pulling Zelda into a hug and plunging themselves into the group, with his back taking most of the impact. He did it in a quick manner in order to avoid their doom from the combination of two. He pulled Zelda closer to him on his front and held her tight with his right arm while his other arm managed to deflect the next beam of blue energy the turret fired and managed to kill it with one last shot. He swiftly turned to the skywalker and repeated process.
Link finally got to take a breath and before looking down at Zelda, whose face was buried into his chest. "Princess, are you okay?"
Zelda gave a weak nod in his chest before he slowly pulled her away from him. The princess was far from okay. Her face was soaked with tears and sweat from running. Zelda couldn't open her eyes to the horror that went on around her but yet she felt terrible that she could not. The thoughts of fear and regret came down a heavy stream.
Link wished he could allow a break for the princess but he needed to evacuate her as soon as possible. He brought her to her feet and they continued running down the ledge towards the moat. Though he tried to ignore the fighting happening around them, Link did shoot several arrows at the eyes of the guardian stalkers to help the soldiers' conflict. It also allowed them more time to escape as they were now at the edge of the stony ledge.
Link turned back to the princess whose face was still buried in his chest, "Princess, are you okay?" He got the same nod from before. "I'm going to jump." He felt her eyebrows quickly rise before she pulled away, giving him a surprised look. Link silently laughed before pulling out a folded parasail he stole from the princess's vanity. "I need you to hold on." He squatted down so that the princess could hang onto him from behind. "Don't let go."
Zelda clung onto his neck causing Link to feel the impact from the earlier fall on his back. Link grit his teeth to bear with the soreness and started their descent down the cliff. He aimed for the top of the Castle Town prison where he would then drop to the ground and steal a raft to traverse the heavy stream of the castle most. Although, the parasail had trouble keeping both the two of them up. Link feared they would drop into the water and their fate would be decided by the rapids.
Zelda prayed to the goddesses for their safety as they descended faster and faster. She didn't dare look below them but she noticed two skywalkers coming toward them on their usual routine. I haven't prayed to you in a while Hylia, but please... please grant our survival.
As you wish. The two nearby skywalkers were suddenly disabled as their descent slowed down. It seemed that fortune herself helped them though Hylia toke it upon herself to answer their mortal request. They finally reached the shore of the tiny island with the only worry of the guardian waiting for the other side of the prison.
"Link are you okay?" Zelda asked when Link noticeably winced as she propped herself off his back. He nodded silently before readying his shield for the next three beams, biting his pain away. "Maybe you should rest for a bit."
Link shook his head, refusing to waste a minute in the princess's escape. He grabbed her arm and used all his strength to help her onto the boat. His actions resonated more guilt within Zelda's body and she felt herself complying with his needs. Zelda wished she could do something but looking at her weak body, she knew all she could do without getting in the way was to pray to the goddesses for their survival.
Link cut the rope tethering the raft to the island, allowing them to finally escape the castle perimeter. He pushed to cover the princess in the robe he had stolen from her room to hide her from any further enemies. He knew it would be difficult fighting on water with only five arrows in his quiver. Zelda was in continual prayer to hope for an easy escape and the goddesses were gracious this time.
