BOTW: The Lonely Knight

Gerudo Desert

Link woke up from his sleep, sitting up and removing his head from Taima's soft back, and looked around. He looked around. The ghost of the Hero of Twilight was gone, and the sun was up and shining.

He felt strange, his sleep for once was peaceful, without the usual nightmares that assailed his subconscious like a hammer on an anvil. Getting up to his feet, he roused both Epona and Taima, before heading out. For a few more days, they followed the road, riding past the Great Plateau and across the Diggdogg Suspension Bridge.

They arrived at the entrance of the Gerudo Canyon Pass. It was quite dry, warm and rocky. There were barely any plants, and the only animals in sight were a few wild horses. However, Link spotted something more important. Atop one of the canyon walls was the region's Sheikah Tower. He dismounted Epona and turned to her and Taima.

"Wait here." he ordered, as he used Revali's Gale to propel himself up into the air, gliding up before clinging onto the rough canyon wall and climbing to the top.

As he headed for the tower however, he realized climbing it would not be an easy task. The entire thing was surrounded by a large pool of mud. Link knelt down and lowered a hand into it. It was incredibly thick. Upon trying to pull it out, he realized it was now stuck.

Link tugged hard, grabbing his arm with his free hand to fight the suction. He was suddenly flung back as he ripped his hand out from the mud, landing on his back.

"Gah!"

Getting to his feet and wiping the mud off, the Champion began to think. Revali's Gale was not an option anymore, as he had used his last charge to get up the mountain.

"Hmm... Wait, mud is still part water though. Perhaps I can use this..."

Pulling out his Sheikah Slate, he tested out to see if cryonis would work on it. Fortunately, it did, and he began to leap from block of ice to block of ice to the tower. The climb up was rather uneventful, and he successfully activated the tower with ease.

Once he had finished, he looked around. His vision was greeted by the site of a vast desert out in the distance. He could see a small settlement, some tall snowy mountains bordering the place, and a huge sandstorm in the middle of it.

He took a closer look at that last one, as he could see something inside. It was the crackling electrical bolts, and the movement of something huge. For a brief second, Link caught a glimpse of part of it when some of the dust cleared away. It was the top part of a huge, ancient machine: A Divine Beast.

There was no doubt about it, Link knew this would be the next obstacle in his quest. Once he had access to the map, he paraglided down to his animal familiars and got onto Epona's back.

"Let's go."

She galloped off, Taima following behind. With the help of the map, they navigated the canyon. The temperature through it was quite cool now, as they remained in the shade of the walls.

Later

After having ridden through the canyon, avoiding bokoblin archers that took the pleasure of firing at him as he rode past them, he arrived at the end of the canyon. A stable stood by the entrance to the desert, giving a view of its vastness.

Link left his companions behind for a moment to go deal with the shrine. After a puzzle involving electricity and magnesis, he left the place with another spirit orb, as well as a Gerudo scimitar.

Deciding to head out as quickly as possible, he led Epona and Taima to the canyon exit. The wolf jumped down into the warm sand below, however, the same could not be said for the horse, as she adamantly refused to set foot outside the canyon, holding her ground on the rock.