The Nasir and Maarika Chronicles Episode V

By James Mullins

Nasir and Maarika are of one people but two worlds. Growing up on opposite sides of the Roman Empire's Arabian border in the 7th Century their lives are brought together when an unspeakable evil emerges from the depths of the Arabian Desert.

Set in the Byzantium Infected Universe which begins with the short story Jibreel's Curse and continues in the full length novel Scourge of Byzantium.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Mullins
• Release date: Feb 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463381380

James Mullins

I was born into a military family in the United States. At a very early age I was able to travel the world. One of the first places my father was stationed was Germany. Europe was a magnificent land dotted with castles and history. This invoked within me first a curiosity about history, and later a passion. I became captivated with tales of both heroes and heroines of times past.After my experience abroad, history was filed in the back of my mind. We returned to the United States and went about our lives. School, a trip to Italy with my Grandparents to become acquainted with my Italian cousins, and finally my own tour in the military took me to more wondrous places full of history, such as the Middle East and Iceland. These new experiences helped bring the love of history to the forefront of my thoughts once again.As life always does, living it got in the way of my passion. More school, and several jobs later history came crashing back to the forefront of my thoughts. This time was different. This time not only did I love reading, but tales of my own began to form in my mind.I read extensively of several historical fiction and alternative history authors. Some of my favorites being Gordon Doherty, Simon Scarrow, Douglas Jackson, D. Russ and E.E. Isherwood. My real inspiration was Harry Turtledove, a master of alternate history. I picked up a copy of his Guns of the South in 1993. I immediately fell in love with the genre. Though I have read many other alternate history authors Harry Turtledove remains my favorite.For my first book, Scourge of Byzantium, I combined my love of history with a more recent passion the walking dead. My mind imagined a world in which the infection did not take place in the modern world, but during the later Roman Empire or Byzantium as that nation is known in modern times. Imagine how much better equipped a Roman Army is to deal with this problem. Now imagine how much harder it is to kill a zombie wearing armor!While I was working on the sequel to Scourge of Byzantium it dawned on me that the Byzantium Infected Universe could tell stories of the infection from many more different view points. Wanting to try my hand at short stories, thanks to some great feedback from a reader, I wrote Jibreel's Curse.Jibreel's Curse is the tale of how a historical nobody, Jibreel, set the gears in motion to first catch and then spread the infection. It's a perfect instance of if Jibreel had gone left instead of right, the world would have continued and become the one that we know. In this case Jibreel made the fateful decision to change the course of history and his actions resulted in the zombie infection.My second full length novel Damascus of the Damned picks up the story that ended in Scourge of Byzantium right after that novel left off. It continues the tale of Athos, Baltazar, and Constan in the Byzantium Infected Universe.The third book in the Byzantium Infected Series, Emperor's Errand was completed and released Christmas day 2018. Continuing the story of the three heroes, Athos, Baltazar, and Constan, their travels take them to the highest levels of the Roman Empire, culminating in a meeting between Emperor Heraclius and Athos & Constan. The Emperor gives them a mission, vital to the preservation of the Empire.My fourth full length novel Emperor's Errand Part II, is progressing well as of this update (March 2019), and I'm targeting a July of this year release date.Thanks for Reading!James Mullins

Book preview

Nasir and Maarika Chronicles

Episode V

By James Mullins

First Edition February 7th, 2020

©2020 James Mullins

Published in association with Longinus Industries

All rights reserved. This story may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without written permission from the author.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.

August 13th, 636 Arabia Province, Near Aqaba, Byzantium

Every inch of Maarika’s body ached. A constant thump, thump, thump of the horse’s hooves filled her ears and jolted every nerve ending in her body. The noise of the hooves and the howl of the wind was the only sound she had known for the last several hours.

Each new impact of the horse’s hooves resonated throughout her aching body. She looked up into the roaring wind, squinting against it as her eyes filled with tears and the sand filled terrain flashed by. She struggled to focus her eyes forward as she attempted to blink away the tears caused by the winds.

The horse was moving so fast it almost felt as if she were flying. Well at least until those accursed hooves struck the ground again. As her eyes came into focus, they were filled with the sight of Nasir’s posterior as it bounced up and down on his own horse.

These people don’t