Link drew the Master Sword. The blade sang, shedding a brilliant, pure white radiance that cut through the freezing twilight and made the corrupted monster hiss."Hold back!" Link ordered, his voice echoing off the snowy cliffs. "This one is mine."Vola and Toren braced themselves, weapons ready but staying back as Link charged across the blood-stained snow. The Lynel-armored Iron Knuckle met him head-on, swinging its massive, fiery claymore in a devastating horizontal arc. The air screamed with heat as the dark-red fire tore through the frost.Link ducked beneath the swing, the heat singeing his hair, and drove the Master Sword upward. The holy blade clashed against the thick, calcified Lynel plating on the beast's chest with a shower of golden sparks. The impact vibrated up Link's newly healed arm, but his grip remained iron-fast.The beast stumbled back, groaning—but the sound that came from behind the iron visor wasn't the roar of a monster. It was a distorted, agonized human scream.Through the narrow slit of the visor, the glowing red light flickered. For a split second, it died out, revealing a pair of terrified, tear-filled Hylian eyes. A desperate voice gasped through the grill."...Kill... me... please... can't stop..."It wasn't a soulless automaton. It was a brainwashed Hylian knight, trapped inside a living nightmare, forced by the dark Princess to serve the Calamity.Before Link could process the horror, the Malice surged violently, bleeding from the armor's seams. The knight's eyes snapped back to a blinding, corrupted red. With a roar of forced fury, the titan brought its massive claymore down in a vertical strike meant to split Link in two.Link raised the Master Sword, parrying the blow, but the sheer weight of the Lynel armor drove him to one knee in the snow. The fiery blade pressed closer and closer to his face. Inside the armor, the trapped knight was weeping, his body violently shaking as his mind fought desperately against the dark possession, trying to pull the blade back.Link could feel the knight's soul screaming for freedom. He had the Master Sword, a blade meant to banish evil, but a careless strike could kill the innocent man trapped inside.
Link locked his boots into the snow, leveraging the immense strength of his fully healed arm. With a fierce shout, he deflected the giant fiery blade upward, knocking the titan off-balance.The knight within the armor groaned, his body shuddering as he desperately fought his own limbs, forcing the heavy iron frame to stall. It was the only opening Link would get.Link leapt into the air, the Master Sword flashing like a streak of pure starlight. He didn't aim for the throat or the heart. Instead, he spun mid-air and brought the pommel and flat of his blade down in a thunderous strike directly against the beast’s helmet.The holy energy of the sword detonated upon contact with the calcified Lynel plating.A sharp CRACK echoed through the promenade as the iron visor split completely in two, shattering into pieces that hissed as they hit the snow. The thick, pulsing purple Malice that had been funneled directly into the knight's neck was severed, evaporating into white steam.The giant claymore clattered to the ground, its dark fire dying instantly.The massive armor collapsed forward into the drifts. As the dust cleared, the heavy iron plates began to break apart, dissolving into harmless ash. Lying in the snow was a pale, exhausted young man wearing the tattered blue-and-silver uniform of the ancient Royal Guard. He was gasping for air, the corrupted red entirely gone from his eyes, replaced by a deep, emotional relief.Toren and Vola rushed forward, weapons still alert, but Link raised a hand to ease them."Thank you..." the knight choked out, clutching his chest as tears rolled down his face. "The darkness... it was like a cage in my own mind. She... she forced me to stand guard."Link knelt beside him, offering a hand. "The Princess?"The knight nodded weakly, pointing past the shattered archway toward the glowing arch of the Spring of Wisdom. "She is entirely consumed. But before the final piece of her mind fractured, she locked a memory grid into the spring's ancient terminal. She knew you would come, Hero. Go... before the Calamity senses I have fallen."Leaving the rescued knight in the care of Toren and the young woman, Link and Vola stepped through the ruined archway.The Spring of Wisdom was breathtaking, frozen in a timeless, crystalline beauty. In the center, standing over the frosted waters, was a glowing Sheikah pedestal. The moment Link approached, the cracked Sheikah Slate at his hip vibrated violently, flying out of his hand to slot perfectly into the pedestal's crest.The frozen waters of the spring began to glow a brilliant, blinding gold.A holographic projection shimmered to life over the ice. It was Zelda. But she wasn't smiling. Her regal gown was torn, her golden hair frayed, and behind her, the dark, swirling face of Calamity Ganon was visibly warping her shadow."Link," the projection spoke, her voice steady despite the horror surrounding her. "If you have breached the gate, then the blade is yours once more. Listen closely. The crimson lightning protecting the castle is powered by three Malice anchors hidden within the ruined spires. You cannot pierce the storm from the ground. You must take to the skies."The projection shifted, displaying a blueprint of a massive, bird-like machine buried beneath the ice of the northwestern mountains."The Divine Beast Vah Medoh still holds a reservoir of pure Gale energy," Zelda’s holographic image continued, looking directly into Link's eyes. "Reclaim it, and it will grant you the sky-bound shield you need to ride the storm and face me."The hologram flickered and dissolved into a shower of gold particles, leaving behind a new set of coordinates on the repaired Sheikah Slate.They finally had a plan, a destination, and a clear path forward. The battle for the Kingdom of Embers was moving to the frozen skies of the Rito.
