Tomorrow is the midnight early release of Tears of the Kingdom, and yes, I will be in line with the other crazy fanatics that think it’s a good idea to stand in a line at midnight wrapping around GameStop to get my pre-ordered copy. After which, I will seal myself inside my cave with powerful spells to ward off the evil non-Zelda fan that resides outside my cave, and will no doubt cast her evil magic in an attempt to pry me away from the land of Hyrule. Horrible spells, like the ‘Hey, take out the trash’ spell, and the ‘I want dinner’ spell. But, I am prepared. I have taped a map to the location of the trash bin on the entrance of my cave, along with gift cards to Red Lobster, Road House, Taco Bell, and MacDonald’s. If I am not heard from in three weeks, do not weep for me, for I have perished with the battle cry, “For the Honor of Hyrule”, on my lips.

Sabotage The smell of rancid meat filled Sahaj Jargal’s nostrils even before he pulled the lid off the barrel to look inside. His eyes filled with anger, the meat had been salt cured and should have lasted for years. “All the meat is spoiled over here too,” shouted Tulaj Tarkan. “These barrels also,” added Agaj Aerethel from another of the cargo sleds. Buzaj Deya knelt next Pasaj Arban, the young Spymaster. “How did this happen?” Arban ran a finger along the top edge of the barrel, then tipped the barrel on its side and let some of the foul smelling meat dump out, along with a stream of water. “The seal’s been broken and water poured inside. The meat rotted quickly after that.” “Sabotage?” asked Deya. “It hasn’t rained, so, yes, it is likely,” replied Arban. “Jargal, aren’t there guards posted on the supplies?” asked Deya turning to the Marketmaster. Jargal gave Deya a restrained shake of his head. Deya’s father had originally been trained as a Sahaj, but with the death of his eldest brother had become the Maharah at seventeen years old. Deya, while he had also originally inherited the title of a Sahaj like his father, had not yet begun his Sahaj training because he was only six years old when his brothers had died. So, now while Deya was trained in the intricacies of government, infrastructure, military tactics, and leadership, had only the basic understanding of business, and even less what it took to feed and supply thousands of people. “I don’t have enough people to guard the cargo sleds every hour of the day,” replied Jargal. “I have thousands of deliveries daily, and sometimes the cargo sleds are unattended. Whoever did this made sure to sabotage the sleds far enough back to not be noticed until it was too late.” Aerethel and Tarkan joined Deya and the other two princes. “It’s every sled from here back,” said Aerethel. “How many days food do we have left?” asked Deya. “Maybe ten days,” replied Jargal. “Half that, maybe less,” said Ka. The five princes looked down at Ka. The caravan was still moving, albeit slow enough to walk from one sled to the next. Ka was stretched out on the ground shirtless and with a hand wrapped around one of the skids and being dragged across the sand. Deya was used to Ka doing weird things, so didn’t bother to ask what he was doing. “Why do you say that? asked Deya. “We ran out of food once on a long patrol,” said Ka. “Everyone started getting angry and fights broke out. The Marshal Dragon got everyone under control, but you don’t have a Marshal Dragon.” “I think he’s right, people will panic and food will get trampled in the riot,” said Arban. “Never underestimate people’s stupidity in a situation like this.” “Options?” asked Deya. “We have to tell Uncle Tasj,” said Jargal. Deya shook his head. “The caravan is stretched out over twelve miles, and moving. Even if one of us ran the whole way to the front, it would take four or five hours to get there, and then another four or five hours to get back with an answer. We’d lose a whole day and we don’t have that kind of time.” “Ka could be at the front of the caravan in twenty-minutes on dragonback,” offered Aerethel. Tarkan had joined Ka on the ground and was now being dragged along with him. He tipped his head back and looked at Aerethel. “If we had Ka gallop to the front, everyone would know something was wrong.” “Tarkan, what are you doing?” asked Deya. “I don’t know, but it’s fun,” said Tarkan. “For all you know, Ka might be collecting scorpions for breakfast,” said Arban. “I know what he’s doing,” said Aerethel. Arban had been discreetly observing the way Aerethel looked at Ka. She normally had a hard set to her eyes, and in a grumpy mood, but now, she was actually smiling as she watched Ka. Arban nudged Deya and nodded towards Aerethel. Deya silently mouthed the words, “I know, leave it alone, we want it.” He quickly pieced it together and rolled his eyes. Uncle Tasj and his father were playing match-maker. An arranged marriage between Ka and Aerethel could help ease tensions between the Anse and the Wyra, and maybe persuade the Wyra to help fight the Dragonmasters. “Okay, cousin, so what’s he doing?” Arban asked Aerethel. Arban half-expected her to say, “I don’t know, but I hope he keeps doing it.” But instead, she said, “He’s scratching an itch.” He turned back to Deya with a shake of his head. “There’s a border town about thirty miles south of here. We might be able to buy cattle.” “And how would we get them back here?” asked Aerethel. “We don’t know anything about…” “I can drive cattle,” interrupted Ka, letting go of the sled and jumping to his feet.” Arban glanced at Aerethel again. She had stopped mid-sentence and was staring at Ka with her mouth open as he brushed sand off his massive shoulders. “Ka, put your shirt on before our cousin has a stroke.” Aerethel spun around to glare at Arban – her hands balled into fists. Deya moved between the two. “Knock it off.” “Ka can teach us to drive cattle,” offered Tarkan trying to break the tension. “We can’t drive cattle on these sleds, they’re too slow,” said Deya. Tarkan grinned. “We can use my race sleds.” Deya paused for a moment to think. Tarkan had been sand racing for years. The caravan was scheduled to stop for a break from the border patrol in Tanusan city for the Imperial Sand Races. Tarkan was in the top fifty racers of the Empire, having already amassed a respectable amount of trophies, but this would be his first time racing the biggest race of the year – The Grand Tour. “It might work,” said Deya. “Jargal, how many cattle do we need?” “A thousand head.” “Okay, that’s not going to work, there is no way we can drive a thousand cattle.” “We can do it, with help from the dragons,” said Ka. Jargal gave Ka one of those condescending smiles reserved for little kids. “Ka, I know you like dragons, but these dragons aren’t trained to drive cattle. You’d have to start when they’re little and work with them for years before they can understand what you want them to do.” Ka shrugged, but Arban noticed a quick glance between Deya and Ka. Deya had given Ka a very slight shake of his head as if telling him to stop talking. “Hold on,” said Arban. “Deya, are you keeping a secret from us?” “I’m not keeping any secrets,” said Deya. “I know when someone has a secret,” replied Arban. Aerethel held up a hand. “Deya has kept the secret for a very good reason, the Empire would collapse into civil war if the secret got out.” “You shouldn’t keep secrets from us,” said Tarkan. “It makes us think you don’t trust us,” added Jargal. Deya turned to Ka. “See what you’ve started!” “Spill it, cousin,” said Arban. Deya stood, straightened his shoulders, and faced Arban. “Okay, but you can’t tell anyone, the fate of the Empire rests in this never getting out.” Arban nodded and Deya took a deep breath. “Dragons can talk,” announced Deya quickly. Arban blinked twice before nodding again. “Well then, that solves that,” said Arban turning to Tarkan. “Get your sleds out of storage, we’ll leave immediately.” “So, you believe me?” asked Deya. Arban smiled. “Of course not, but you got me good.” Arban looked at Ka. “That was a brilliant set-up, I should have seen it coming. You’ve pulled off some good pranks, especially with those rain dances, but this was a good one. I can’t believe you tricked me again.” “But, they do…” said Deya. Arban held up a hand. “Stop, you win, I learned my lesson. When Ka says there’s something he can do with the dragons, I need to just listen the first time. The thing is, I already knew the answer. I’ve been watching Ka train the dragons in his corral the way you train guard dogs to protect a castle. Ka, you’re going to have to teach us the command words you trained them to understand.” Hook Tail was walking along next to the cargo-sled, along with the other twenty dragons of Ka’s Corral. Deya and the others hadn’t walked all the way back to the end of the column – that would have been dumb. Instead, they’d waited in the corral until the caravan had passed them, then fell in with the cargo sleds at the end of the column. Hook Tail swung her head towards Ka. “The Anse aren’t ready for the truth.” Aerethel stepped off the sled and put a hand on the dragon’s neck. “My friend, we really need your help. When the food runs out, they’re going to start butchering dragons for meat. We need to get those cattle back here before that happens.” “It will be nice to stretch our legs and run free, but if Arban tells me to sit up for a doggy treat, I’m going to chew his leg off.”