The Shepherd — J.C. Staudt

There's no job tougher than guiding trade caravans through the wasteland, and no man tougher to do it than Toler Glaive. Life out here isn't for the fainthearted, and lately the pay hasn't kept up with the danger. Toler takes up smuggling to make ends meet - despite the trading company's strict rules against the practice. When nomads ambush the caravan, he finds his carefully laid plans unraveling. Now he must either take the fall, or find someone to take it for him...

The Shepherd is a prelude novella to J.C. Staudt's debut post-apocalyptic fantasy epic The Infernal Lands, and is a part of the Aionach Saga.