After taking in his surroundings, Luis spoke, "So how are we gonna look for the Sand Strikers."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. You're gonna fly right in the middle of them," Noah said casually
"WHAT?"
"Don't worry. I asked your Aunt Sera to place a net ahead it's made out of shadows it will catch you," Noah replied as he grabbed Luis from the middle of his shirt on the back and the top of his trousers. Lifting him up in the air at a 90-degree angle.
"Wait, wait, wait the trees!!"
"I won't miss. Just activate your golem blessing and move your aura to cover your head and arms you will survive. And I will be taking care of any strong creatures near you so fight without worries."
Luis tried to still argue for his dad to not throw him but before he could get his words out his dad threw him full speed in the air.
Instead of words coming out as he was thrown, unexpectedly to himself, Luis made a yelp out of fear.
The wind slammed into his eyelids, almost closing them shut, but instinctively, Luis moved his arms above his eyes to stop the wind.
From the peripheral vision around his arms, which Luis used to block the wind, he could see he was getting closer and closer to the top of the trees. He didn't fully know if where he was being flung through from had branches covering the sky or not but he still activated his golem blessing and moved aura in his head and arms for protection.
Luckily or by precision from his dad Luis went past the small clearing at the top of the trees leaves and branches.
Normally Luis may have taken in the view but today he didn't have the luxury. It had taken only a few seconds to go from the ground to above the trees. Which was not enough time for Luis to compose himself.
Suddenly the wind pushing his arms stopped normally it would have been a could thing but it had only stopped because Luis wasn't going up anymore. He had reached the apex of how high he was flung where he stayed for half a second before falling down again.
Looking down, all Luis could see were leaves. The amount of leaves hid the branches; he couldn't tell if he was gonna fall through leaves or leaves and branches.
As he started the fall downwards, Luis wasn't even able to get the words out to scream; he just screamed ("nooooooooooo") in his mind as he fell.
Unlike when going up, Luis didn't have his body straightened. Instead, he was on his back as he was not able to change directions mid-air and was spinning uncontrollably.
Luis believed that he didn't have fear of fight but he felt that it might have changed because of today.
Luis didn't realise when he was about to hit the leaves of the trees becaus he was spinning but luckily he didn't hit any branches and only fell through some leaves.
Luis tried swinging his arms and legs to try and stabilise himself to see properly where he was falling, but it just wouldn't work.
He expected to fall down much longer but to his surprise he hit something. As he had spun to face down when he hit it. He realise that it was the net made out of shadows that his dad told him about.
The net was attached to five different trees in a pentagon formation where there was a small clearing below.
Luis was about 35 meters off the ground when the net caught him. The net didn't abruptly stop him. The net fully stretched from where it caught him till the ground fully reduced Luis's fall.
The net floated just a few centimetres above the ground when it reached the bottom before dissipating and dropping Luis very slightly.
"Ugh," Luis groaned from the fall, not because it hurt but because of the entire experience because it felt like a lot to him.
Luis slowly stood up to get the leaves off his shirt, but before he could get them off he heard rustling coming from in front of him.
Looking towards the sound of movement, Luis noticed six creatures emerging from behind the trees in front of him. Their bodies were dust-coloured, and leaves seemingly clung to them, helping them blend in with the surroundings. Their black eyes gleamed as they locked onto Luis.
Luis tensed up
The creatures weren't running away
They were stalking
One of the creature's mouth twitched
Whoosh
A blast of sand shot towards his chest. Luis barely dodged to the right, making the attack hit his shoulder instead.
A dull stinging pain ran throughout his shoulder
Then, less than a second later another one attacked
Whoosh
This time, he got hit in the ribs, which knocked the breath out of his lungs.
Luis instantly activated his Lynx blessing
None of the attacks had pierced Luis's skin because of the golem blessing, but the pain was not bearable.
With the Lynx speed blessing activated, he rolled to the side, being able to dodge the attack in time.
Luis also noticed something the attack that hit him in the ribs didn't hurt as much as the first one. The only difference he could see in the two attacks was the distance they were launched from.
Luis assumed the longer the range, the less damage it meant.
Then, the six rats all moved in closer, slowly spreading around Luis in a circle.
Luis would have moved forward to attack, but he didn't have a weapon on him. His daggers were left in the village.
His eyes darted around, trying to find something before the Sand Strikers fully circled him.
Then he noticed it a stick on the base of one of the trees. It seemed forty centimetres long.
Which was perfect because he needed to increase his range of attack.
Luis darted to his left across the clearing to the stick.
The rats hadn't formed a full circle around Luis. It was only a semi-circle.