Birth | Short Story

New life enters the universe just as a dynasty comes to an end. The Yesterday Saga begins...

‘Birth’ is the first short story in The Scikera Universe. This is just the beginning.

“The future begins in the past.”

Stakka Ja felt the Old God in every heartbeat. He felt the Old God in every tear. Every bead of sweat. He’d delivered generations of Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses in his time as Royal Medicaal of The Golden City and he’d seen the old God in every birth. Every smile. Every new life and every death.

“Push,” he whispered.

The Queen felt every inch of her body tighten, muscles undulating from head to toe.

“She’s almost here,” he said.

The birthing party were gathered at the foot of the bed as they had been for the birth of all her children. One to nurse the new Princess. One to pray over her. One to gather the Queen’s Royal blood.

“Caal,” another man called out from across the palace chambers closing the only door as he entered the opulent gold-laden room.

“Remain in here and you shall face execution,” Stakka said to the soldier, his focus fixed on the Queen as she arched her back, “push again, my Queen.”

“You don’t understand,” the man said running, rifle in hand, towards Stakka. His uniform, unkempt, stained with blood and ash and sweat, drew the gaze of the birthing party. Each dressed in clean ceremonial whites and golds, they lost their nerve as a blast somewhere beyond the windowless chamber shook the world around them, the war bursting through the silence.

“Leave us now!” Stakka shouted.

“The King is dead,” the guard said, stopping short of the birthing party who had started to stir from their assigned positions at the Queen’s bed, an unease rippling through the group.

“Good, my Queen, very good,” Stakka said as the Queen relaxed into the silks of her bed, her chest rising and falling rapidly with every breath.

“The enemy is at our gates,” the soldier said. “The war is lost.”

The Queen’s body fell limp, exhausted. Stakka lifted the crying child from beneath the shroud that covered the Queen’s legs.

“The Prince and Princess have a sister my Queen,” he said.

“Please,” the soldier pleaded, pushing passed the shell-shocked birthing party who had all neglected to tend to their roles. “We must leave or we’ll all be killed.”

Stakka glared at the birthing party who each began tending to their duties. Blood was collected from the silk sheets, as was ceremony, the Princess was clothed in a golden shroud and the Proctor of the Old God bowed a solemn head next to the Queen and her newborn child. They tended to their duties like automatons moving through preprogrammed motions but their eyes belied a different truth. Fear had birthed into the chamber, moving like a shadow through the palace. A second blast rang through the halls raining dust down onto the chamber floor.

Stakka listened to the baby’s cries and heard, once more, the sound of the Old God.

“Stakka,” the Queen said, struggling for breath.

“Speak not my Queen, conserve your energy,” Stakka said, passing the child to her. She looked down at the face of her daughter, fresh emerald eyes gazing back at her.

“I have three children now,” she said, “get them out of the palace alive.”

She looked to Stakka, eyes pleading for him to hear her. He turned to the soldier.

“The children are to be taken off Calon,” he said, “take them to Osian, he will know what to do.”

“What about you and the Queen?”

Stakka looked back at the Queen who was studying the face of her newborn daughter for the final time, resting her palm on the Princess's head.

“My Queen, it appears our Lord is ready to meet us,” Stakka said.

She nodded kissing her daughter and passing her to Stakka.

“This is our future,” he said, handing the child over to the soldier.

“This is our future,” the soldier repeated, passing his weapon to Stakka. He set the child into the crook of his neck and bowed one final time to the Queen.

“I hope you’ll forgive us for fighting the King’s war,” he said.

The birthing party stopped in their roles, looking down at the Queen and Stakka and watching as the soldier activated a hidden door within the glimmering walls of the chamber. Even after the birth, with all its pain, the Queen still had tears to shed as she watched her daughter taken down the darkened hallway.

“Tell me they will live,” she asked Stakka as the hidden door closed.

“My Queen,” Stakka continued, “place your trust in the old God as I have. Your children will have a future.”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his grey uniform.

“It is time, my Queen,” he said, as another blast rocked the palace, the distant sounds of war ringing through the empty halls—a symphony of gunfire and death.

“This is our future,” she said. He raised the soldier’s rifle and aimed it towards the birthing party. One by one they fell to the chamber floor, each shot an unending voice screaming in his ears. The Queen slumped back in her bed as Stakka fired the final shot into her temple. He dropped the rifle to the floor and took her hand as the chamber doors blew inwards sending a torrent of debris at his back.

“This is our future,” he said, “they are our future.”

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And so it begins. The Scikera Universe, and the stories contained within its celestial bounds, is a passion project I’ve been working on for the past five years. I’ve got big plans for this universe so you’ll absolutely want to stick around. Unless you hated what you just read in which case I’m, uh, sorry?

Check back next week as we dive into some of the worldbuilding mentioned in ‘Birth’ including a look at whatever this strange ‘Golden City’ is.

Change Log

Updated on 22-03-23: included a link to ‘Lunaris [Worldbuilding]’.

Updated on 04-05-25: updated the name of the universe to The Scikera Universe. Updated thumbnail with new branding and added in banner for Scikera: Vol. 1 - Worlds. Updated place names and miscellaneous world-building. Removed link to out dated world-building post.