The journey northwest toward the Hebra region was a brutal trek through a dying world. The further Link and Vola marched, the more the green valleys of Hyrule gave way to jagged, black volcanic ice and howling blizzards that carried the scent of sulfur and ash.With the coordinates locked into the Sheikah Slate, they pushed through the freezing gales until they reached the edge of the Rito Village chasm.The village, once a beautiful wooden spire spiraling up a massive rock pillar, was entirely encased in corrupted, purple-veined ice. Hovering directly above it in the dark, heavy clouds was a terrifying sight. The giant, bird-like mechanical marvel—Divine Beast Vah Medoh—was completely active, but its ancient blue lights had been replaced by a pulsing, bleeding crimson grid.It was no longer a protector of the skies. It was an airborne fortress of Malice, unleashing erratic blasts of dark energy into the mountains below."The whole village is frozen solid," Vola muttered, her teeth chattering as she shielded her eyes from the biting wind. "There are no signs of the Rito. If anyone survived, they’re hiding deep in the caverns."Suddenly, a sharp swoosh cut through the howling wind.A figure plummeted out of the dark clouds above, snapping open a pair of magnificent, ash-stained wings at the very last second to glide gracefully onto the wooden platform in front of them. It was a young Rito warrior, his white feathers dusted with frost, wielding a beautifully crafted Great Eagle Bow. His face was hardened with desperation."Hylians?" the warrior gasped, lowering his bow slightly, his eyes shifting from Link’s glowing golden arm to the unmistakable hilt of the Master Sword on his back. "By the skies... you're the Knight of Legend. I am Tulin, leader of what’s left of the Rito flight-corps.""We need to get onto that Beast," Link said, his voice cutting through the storm.Tulin let out a grim, humorless laugh. "Medoh's automatic cannons will blow anything that flies out of the sky before we get within a mile. But the Princess... she left a flaw in its programming. If we can glide into the slipstream directly beneath its tail, we can bypass the shield and breach the main deck."Tulin pulled three glowing, high-tech Bomb Arrows from his quiver."I can launch you into the sky using my gale magic," Tulin said, his feathers rustling with determination. "But once we’re up there, the blizzard is blinding. We'll only get one shot to blast open the hangar doors."
Link stepped up to the edge of the chasm, strapping the repaired Sheikah Slate tightly to his forearm. "Let's do it," he said. "Take us up."Tulin gave a sharp, avian nod. The young Rito warrior spread his broad, ash-stained wings, his talons gripping the edge of the wooden platform. Link vaulted forward, locking his boots around Tulin's shoulders and gripping the harness.With a fierce, piercing cry, Tulin leapt into the abyss.A massive, unnatural gust of wind—Tulin’s signature gale magic—erupted beneath them, launching them straight up into the freezing, dark clouds like a shot arrow. The world below vanished into a blur of black ice and swirling soot.Above them, the colossal, bird-like frame of Divine Beast Vah Medoh loomed out of the storm. The moment they breached the lower clouds, the Beast's defenses reacted. Four massive, mechanical cannons mounted on its underbelly groaned as they swiveled, their lenses snapping open with a blinding, corrupted red glare.Whine... whine... whine—"They're locking on!" Tulin yelled over the roar of the wind, tilting his wings to dive hard into a spiral as a volley of crimson laser beams streaked past them, boiling the freezing air. "I can't get us closer with those things active!"Link tapped the screen of the Sheikah Slate. Thanks to the holy energy of the Master Sword, the device's ancient terminal-hijacking runes were fully unlocked. Golden Sheikah glyphs spun across the glass face as Link aimed the slate's camera lens directly at the nearest firing cannon."Hold us steady for three seconds!" Link shouted.Tulin caught a thermal, pulling up into a daring, vertical hover directly in the line of fire. A laser target locked squarely onto Link's chest.Three... Two...Link slammed his thumb onto the slate's screen. A pulse of brilliant, azure frequency shot from the device, tearing through the storm and striking the cannon's localized mainframe.The crimson light in the cannon's eye violently flickered. The digital corruption inside its programming shattered. Instead of firing at Link, the hijacked cannon swiveled 180 degrees and fired a massive, high-potency laser blast directly into the secondary cannon next to it, blowing it to absolute scrap metal."It worked!" Tulin cheered, pulling into a tight banking turn.Link didn't waste a moment. Swiping his fingers across the map grid, he bridged the slate's signal from the first hacked cannon across the entire lower defense network. A rapid chain-reaction of override codes forced the remaining turrets to turn on one another. Within seconds, a series of spectacular blue-and-purple explosions rocked the underbelly of Vah Medoh, raining burning mechanical shrapnel down into the canyon below.The automated defense perimeter was entirely down."The hangar doors are exposed!" Tulin yelled, folding his wings to dive straight toward the massive, open loading bay at the rear of the Divine Beast. "Brace yourself, Hero!"They slammed onto the metallic, frost-covered floor of the hangar deck, sliding across the grating until Tulin brought them to a halt. Link unmounted, instantly drawing the Master Sword. The blade's holy light flared, cutting through the eerie, dark interior of the ancient machine.The hangar was silent, but the air felt heavy, greasy, and suffocatingly hot. Deep within the core of the ship, a low, mechanical heartbeat pulsed.Suddenly, the massive metal hangar doors slammed shut behind them, locking them inside. From the center of the dark ceiling, a massive glob of thick, bubbling purple Malice detached itself, hitting the floor with a wet, heavy thud.The corruption began to reshape itself, molding into a floating, grotesque phantom with a single, glowing red eye and a massive, mechanical cannon arm. It was Windblight Ganon, the scourge that had claimed the skies a century ago, re-animated by the dark Princess's magic.The phantom raised its cannon arm, a miniature hurricane of sharp, black wind beginning to spiral around the arena.
