Gravity pulled him downward with ruthless force, and just when he thought it was the end—
CRASH!
Axelius slammed into the thick canopy of a massive tree, the branches snapping beneath his weight, each one slowing his fall with a sharp, bone-rattling jolt. "Guh—ahh!" he groaned, the air punched out of his lungs as branch after branch cracked under him, sending splinters and leaves flying. Finally, his stomach collided with a particularly thick branch, the impact hard enough to make him cough out blood.
"Haaah...haaah...damn...it..." Axelius gasped, his hands instinctively clutching the branch as he dangled there, his feet swaying in the empty air below. His fingers trembled, his muscles aching with the effort to hold on. But he did. With a grunt of determination, he pulled himself up, crawling onto the thick wood and collapsing onto it, breathing heavily.
