Imentet
⌠━━━━━━━━━━ △ ━━━━━━━━━━⌡

"Again."

Aisha carefully nocked an arrow into her bow. Visible sweat trickled down the side of her face.

Her target was stationary. A log of wood, lodged into the sand. Nothing could topple it over.

It should be easy. But when her second arrow was fired, it still struck the sand. Not a single shot had reached the log.

"And again."

Maalik stood with his arms crossed, watching her fail over and over again. Every arrow that missed felt like it struck him instead.

Aisha reached for another arrow from her quiver. Maalik noticed her posture as she lined the shot. She remained steady, her elbow was held high, and she took a deep breath. Without further hesitation, she opened fire.

It was a clean hit.

The arrow penetrated the log. However, it wasn't a direct hit, rather it was a low shot. "Yes! Baba, I got it!" Aisha wiped her face with the back of her hand, she smiled and looked back at her father. She looked so happy with her efforts.

Maalik however kept his glare.

"You struck his leg." He said with disapproval. "He'll stand again or fire back using his hands. This is no time for a premature celebration."

Aisha lost her smile rather quickly. She turned to face the log and slowly readied herself to take aim once more. 

"Aim higher, right for his head. Kill him before he could retaliate."

He felt disappointed, watching her fail over and over again. He's always been too soft on her during training, but not anymore. She doesn't deserve to be congratulated for missing her target.

Her next arrow was fired. It was far too high. The arrow narrowly grazed the top of the log, gliding towards the sands below.

Maalik suddenly clapped his hands, but he showed no positivity. "Ah yes, maybe he'll spare you if you shave his hair. Clever thinking! This is why you're so smart, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry." Aisha's voice was quiet and soft, he's never heard her sound this way before. There was even a faint stutter. "I'll try again."

"Sure." He replied with a disgusted look on his face. His arms were still crossed as he stood by the side and watched carefully.

The girl only had three arrows left. She had to make one of them count at least. There were no distractions to stop her this time. No sandstorms, no screeches from any birds, and no nearby wanderers. It's only one simple immobile target. 

In absolute silence, he could hear her breathing from his standpoint. Finally, it looked like she was ready to fire. But there was a problem. Her posture wasn't straight, the arrow's tip wasn't centered.

"That's too high!"

Suddenly, her fingers backfired. The arrow was dramatically let loose, missing the wooden log entirely. She gasped as she turned towards her father.

"Are you even listening to me, Aisha?" His blood boiled, his veins were barely visible as they strained against his skin. "Send the next arrow to the stars in the sky, that seems like an easier target for you!"

"You were yelling, I lost my focus." Her lips quivered. She appeared terrified, taking a step away from him in the process.

Maalik on the other hand didn't appreciate what she had to say. "Imagine standing amidst an inferno of destruction as an army rampages through your own home. You're holding that bow, and you're ready to defend your life. But are you going to give up because there's too much noise surrounding you? There's a fire burning your house down. Your friends are screaming for help, just pleading for mercy as they're brutally attacked. You won't do anything because you can't focus."

He walked around her, picturing the very carnage he once had to witness many years ago. "Have you any idea what those assailants would do if they caught you? A young, defenseless girl in their hands; you don't want to know what will happen."

Staring straight into her eyes, he intended to strike the fear of the gods deep inside of her. "If you're unable to fend them off, then just stab yourself with the arrow and give up. End your own life before one of them reaches you, and spare yourself the suffering you would have to endure if you lost that chance."

"Baba, you're scaring me."

He gritted his teeth, edging his head closer towards her. "Good. Now try again."

Stepping back to the sideline, he crossed his arms again. His daughter was beginning to shiver as her hands shook the bow. He could see her fear was overwhelming her, causing her to lose stability over herself.

He only hoped she remembered one of the rules he taught her. She can't hesitate for too long. He always implied it was so her arms don't tire out and worsen her aim. But that was never the case. The longer she waits, the sooner her enemy will shoot her first. 

Her fingers loosened and the arrow was fired. A small sigh escaped from her as she saw the arrow strike the log. But it still wasn't centered, and it only struck the side of the log.

Maalik wasn't happy. His hands formed into fists out of instinct. His eyes never blinked once, lingering in a seamless void.

He ignored Aisha reaching for her last arrow. Instead, he already began to walk towards the wooden log. Standing right in front of it, he grabbed the last arrow that struck its side and held it up.

"A minor flesh wound." He spoke calmly, but menacingly. Turning around, he maintained his threatening look. "Are you afraid of killing a man, Aisha?"

Her voice stuttered again. "I'm trying. I still have one arrow left, I can make it."

"Is that so?" Maalik raised his chin, standing tall as he belittled her. Without moving aside, he kept his hands to his side. "Do it then."

Aisha nocked the last arrow into her bow, raising her elbow as she looked ahead. But he never moved away from the target. His daughter kept the arrow focused on him, though her eyebrows bent in confusion.

"Baba, you're in the way." Aisha was always happy to make practice shots with her bow, but the worried look on her face showed she wasn't enjoying any of this.

"No, I don't think I am. I'm right where I should be." He responded, keeping his posture.

"But the log is behind you!" Her fingers were beginning to visibly strain against the bowstring, she may accidentally open fire at this rate. But he still didn't step aside.

"Use your head, Aisha!" Maalik yelled back. His anger was ready to be unleashed. "This is about you learning to protect your loved ones from danger! Consider your position carefully and do what is right!"

She was on the verge of tears. Her arms shook violently. "I don't want to."

"Coward! You think this is hard? Huh? Does this not at all seem familiar to you? I made the mistake of not opening fire and instead settled for a physical approach. But you have the chance to do what I should have done. Make the right decision and kill your enemy!"

Maalik spread his arms out. The wind was beginning to intensify slightly, blowing against him. This was the moment of truth.

"Take the fucking shot!"

Aisha closed her eyes. She loosened her grip, and her bow was lowered. She failed her task.

Wiping a tear away, she continued to stand still as he approached her. His shadow eventually loomed over.

Before she was given a chance to speak, his hands jolted forward and grabbed her bow. She resisted briefly but was powerless against him as he snatched the arrow too. 

He snarled at her. "Ignorant fool. You were supposed to strike the log behind me. Yet you pathetically closed your eyes instead and gave up. That's a sign of weakness. You're afraid of eye-contact."

Suddenly, he nocked the arrow into the bow and immediately took aim. The arrow's tip was pointed directly towards Aisha's forehead. His hands never shook, and his glare remained as furious as ever.

"This is how it's done." He finally spoke calmly again, staring right into his daughter's eyes.

He was going to shoot the arrow beside her, purposefully missing her. But he couldn't. A part of him began to tremble, and he found himself hesitating. Just as he was about to release his fingers, Aisha burst into tears. She ran away from him, heading north back home.

He lowered the bow and stood still. Seeing her run away somehow had a positive impact on him. It made him feel stronger. It empowered him. She feared him, and that's exactly what he wanted. 

A smirk appeared on his face, highlighting his cruelty. For the first time in his life, he didn't have to conceal his deepest thoughts and emotions. Being able to express himself freely satisfied him. He actually felt alive, and it was perfect.

Besides, she was useless. A weak and pathetic little girl like her could never become the perfect daughter he's dreamed of. A son would have been far more efficient than her, but it seems Maalik has to do everything himself. He can't rely on her to squish an insect. 

So just as he was about to gather the arrows his worthless daughter wasted, he stopped short.

The ringing in his ears that irritated him suddenly ceased. He blinked rapidly a few times. The bow fell from his hand.

His smirk faded away as he slowly touched the side of his head, continuing to watch his little girl run back home. The skin against his arms rattled, developing a series of bumps that accompanied a sudden shiver down his spine.

"Aisha?" Only a whisper escaped his lips. Her figure shortened in the distance, and he felt a sense of dread wash over him. Out of fear, he called her name again, but louder. "Aisha!"

There was no response. She continued to run until she disappeared from view.

As the howling of the desert wind surrounded him, he felt uncomfortable. Turning back around, he stared at the wooden log. His eyes darted everywhere, looking from the ground to the sky and even the far horizon.

His jaw slightly dropped, leaving his mouth opened as he surveyed his surroundings in devastating anxiety. Every sudden inhale was instantly expelled as his breathing intensified followed by his hands clutching the sides of his head out of desperation.

Only the wind and brief rustling of the nearby palm trees provided any ambient noise to the otherwise silent and dim atmosphere.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

⌠━━━━━━━━━━ △ ━━━━━━━━━━⌡
Historical Notes:

Although archery itself predates as early back as 70 thousand years ago, the Egyptians were amongst the earliest civilizations to adopt archery in 2800 BCE. Bows were produced using wood, animal horns/sinew and glue. The bowstring was sometimes made with sheep intestines.

During the later years (New Kingdom), Egyptian archers would often ride chariots around the enemy and attack them from behind their lines.

Egypt would often recruit pítati (Nubian mercenaries) to aid them in conflicts. The Nubians primarily sent their archers to aid them. They were first used in the 6th Dynasty at around 2300 BCE.

Nubian mercenaries amongst Egyptian soldiers

⌠━━━━━━━━━━ △ ━━━━━━━━━━⌡