Sheina loaded her bow with a simple arrow. The Mocking Jay had no armor at all in order to be as light as possible for maximum speed and aerial maneuverability. As long as she could shoot it in one hit, the fight would be over.
She pulled on the string, bringing it back towards her shoulders.
All of her training, her talent, and her skills allowed her to not even consider this as a real challenge. It was no exaggeration that she could hit this in her sleep.
There was no reason for her to feel so anxious, to feel so stressed.
But as she looked up at the Mocking Jay, it started to cackle at her.
HIK HIK HIK HIK!
"You’re useless..."
Her hands started to shake. The usually firm and stable form that she was so proud of started to waver, as if this was the first time that she was ever holding a bow.
"Don’t listen to its taunts!" one of the female adventurers. "That’s its Aubility Power. It can peer deep down into your mind and use it to its advantage!"
There was a reason that this guardian was called the ’Mocking Jay’.
It was fast, and it was cocky. It would laugh and taunt you, making you miss your shot. And once you fell into that trap, there was no going back.
This was a really good combination against someone with a weak mental state.
"What are you doing sis? Shoot it!" Zion said impatiently. He didn’t know why she was hesitating on releasing her shot when the Mocking Jay was staying in one place. Even he could shoot it, and he couldn’t even hold a bow properly.
Sheina took a big breath. It was only now that she truly missed the easing presence of Lord Michael. Without him, she felt all the burden of pressure on her shoulders.
She tightened her grip on the bow, trying to forcefully conquer her shaking hand.
But it didn’t work. It continued to shake even harder.
Focus! she said to herself. You have to save everyone.
She looked up at the Mocking Jay and released her bow.
But as she did, her trembling hands forced a micro-adjustment to the arrow’s trajectory that slowly snowballed, letting the arrow fly tens of meters off course.
Sheina’s shot flew past the Mocking Jay’s head before arcing down and plummeting to the abyss.
HIK HIK HIK!
"I even made it easier for you! And you still missed!"
The guardian buzzed around in triumph. It only further drove the stake of insecurity and doubt on Sheina’s already fragile heart.
It cackled, knowing that the fight was already over. Once its target fell to that cycle of despair, to that cycle of self-doubt, there was no way for them to recover.
"Sis...," Zion muttered, confused and concerned. This was very uncharacteristic of her. She had never missed a shot that far wide in her entire life!
Even Jaku got up from the ground, forgoing sleep.
Sheina was missing her shots. That was so surprising that it released the drowsiness in his body.
"...it’s okay...," Umisu muttered to her sister. She walked up to Sheina, about to give her a reassuring hug.
However, Sheina quickly pushed her away, surprising Umisu and the other Dragonborns.
"I can do this," she said. "My hands were just slippery, that’s all."
She took out another arrow from her quiver and loaded it in her bow.
She pulled on the string even tighter than before. But still, the result was the same.
As soon as she released her shot, the slight trembling of her hands caused the arrow to fly astray from its true intended path.
The Mocking Jay once again laughed. It didn’t even need to use its immense speed to dodge those arrows. They were way off base!
Feeling rage and frustration building up in her heart, Sheina took out arrow after arrow, shooting them towards the Mocking Jay in quick succession. And with each one of them, her aim seemed to get worse and worse.
"....sis...what’s happening with you?!" Zion bursted out. "Why can’t you hit such a simple target?!"
Jaku immediately pulled him off of Sheina. "That’s enough," he said.
Then, he turned to Sheina. "Is there something wrong? You can talk to us," he reminded her.
However, Sheina shook her head, refusing to elaborate. She forced herself to keep shooting, trying to conquer the trembling of her hands.
Yet, everything she did only seemed to make things worse.
...
...
...
Meanwhile, a tunnel suddenly manifested on top of the cliff as a group of people walked out.
But as it turned out, these groups of people were not normal humans at all. They wore plant-based clothes and had their wooden bows slung across their back, and perhaps their most distinct feature: their elongated ears.
These were the Elves.
After obtaining the Darkwood they needed from the Red Ravine, they immediately made their way towards the exit.
And coincidentally, they landed on the very same cliff that the Dragonborns and the adventurers were trapped in.
"Lady Farren. They seem to be quite troubled with this guardian," said one of the tan-skinned elves.
The middle-aged female Elf took a simple glance at the current situation and saw the Mocking Jay’s weakness in one go.
"Shall we help them?" one of the Elves asked. "They seem to be in great need of a ranger."
And of course, Elves were well-known for their speciality in ranged attacks. Defeating this guardian would be as simple as breathing to them.
"Oh, it seems that they have a ranger already," said one of the Elves, pointing towards a certain white-scaled Dragonborn wielding a strange bow.
Then, they saw Sheina load an arrow into her bow and shoot at the Mocking Jay with extremely bad precision.
"Oh, she must not be a ranger then," said one of the Elves. "It seems that they do need our help."
They all turned towards Farren. With one word of hers, one of the elves would release the arrow in bows and defeat the Mocking Jay in one shot.
However, Farren shook her head. "This is not our fight," she said. "We will not interfere. We shall exit the Red Ravine through our own abilities."
Using their Dao Heart, Elves could easily shoot their arrows towards the other side of the chasm and teleport there using their powers. They didn’t need to defeat the Mocking Jay and obtain the bridge.
...
...
...
Meanwhile, Sheina kept shooting her arrows, yet none of them hit.
And with each miss, the feeling of uselessness kept hammering towards her heart.
She has always considered herself as the best secretary, someone that Michael could rely on.
She used to feel competent. She used to feel needed.
But ever since Aubilities and Divas came into play, she felt as useless as ever.
She was supposed to be Michael’s guardian. His guard. Yet, every time, she was the one who needed his help.
She always touted herself as the mature one, someone that her siblings could rely on, someone who could save them in their time of need.
But at this critical moment, she fell short.
She couldn’t even save herself.
How was she going to be someone Michael could rely on if she couldn’t even hit a simple target?