Paths of Trust

By Michael S. Miller

A sword and sorcery adventure in the tradition of Tanith Lee, Ursula Le Guin, and Robert E. Howard. A world of dark sorcery—an age of sharpened bronze. An undefeated warlord approaches an unconquerable city. Can the sorceress Oshala the Hex keep the city from being drowned in the empire's wave of expansion? Or will her past with the warlord be her undoing?

This is a 7,700-word novelette in the sword and sorcery genre.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael S. Miller
• Release date: Jan 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370774036

Michael S. Miller

Michael S. Miller has played with stories all his life. As a game designer, he has published the superhero role-playing game With Great Power. As a writer, he pens the sword-and-sorcery tales of Oshala the Hex. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, three cats, and far more books, comics, games, and movies than his grandchildren will possibly want to inherit.

Book preview

Paths of Trust

A tale of Oshala the Hex

Smashwords edition

Incarnadine Press • Pennsylvania

Copyright © 2017 by Michael S. Miller

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

Author photo copyright © 2016 by Cory Hendricks

About the Cover:

Cover design by Michael S. Miller

Clouds: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=23336&picture=above-us-only-sky

Lone Mountain: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=173785&picture=snowy-mountains

Hand silhouette courtesy http://openclipart.org

Fonts Tillana and Cinzel Decorative courtesy http://www.google.com/fonts

Dark Sorcery in an Age of Sharpened Bronze

Tales of Oshala the Hex

A world of dark sorcery—a time of sharpened bronze. Oshala the Hex makes her way through this rugged landscape, amassing power. By what means? To what end? The Tales of Oshala the Hex chronicles her journeys in a series of spine-tingling short stories in the sword-and-sorcery genre. Follow Oshala's tales at http://ipressgames.com/oshala/

Wayfarings of Sabit

The Wayfarings of Sabit feature a mighty spearwoman making her way in a world full of threats both mundane and bizarre. These sword and sorcery tales of adventure are filled with dark sorcery, pulse-pounding action, the lush spectacle of things that ought not be, and the thrilling flash of sharpened bronze.

New chapters post every weekday at various sites. The chapters form a complete sword-and-sorcery short story each month:

• Tumblr: http://wayfaringsofsabit.tumblr.com

• Medium: https://medium.com/wayfarings-of-sabit

• Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Stalwart1000

• Google+: https://plus.google.com/collection/4QXinB

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stalwart1000/

You can always follow Sabit’s adventures on http://ipressgames.com/sabit/

Support Sword-and-Sorcery

You can support this and other sword-and-sorcery fiction on Patreon: https://patreon.com/michaelsmiller

Contents

Dark Sorcery in an Age of Sharpened Bronze

Paths of Trust

More from Michael S. Miller

About the Author

Paths of Trust

After all these years, Ylinen, do you not trust me? asked Lual—Teamster-Lord of the impossible city of Cataract, charged to be its Clutcher of the Purse. A tall man with starved cheeks and sunken eyes, he stooped low to avoid looking down at his stout hostess. After