Sorry about the long absence - school calls. But I'll try and update more regularly from now on, maybe a few times a month.
The reeds rustled as Tyren picked his way through the muck, unsure of which way to go. A sudden noise to his left decided for him, and Tyren ran wildly in the opposite direction, his footsteps pounding in the mud.
Suddenly, a roar echoed through the night sky, and he turned to see a huge, cobra-like creature rearing up behind him. He knew he couldn't run, and throwing off his black cloak, he brought his sword out in front of him, tip waving menacingly at the creature's stomach. The old man's words came back to him, and he realised that this was most likely the Midgar Zolom.
His fear paralysed him, and he barely managed to leap out of the way of a snapping set of fangs. Calling on his Fire materia, he sent a ball of fire at the creature's body. It let out another roar, full of anger this time, as if the fire was only an annoyance to it. Leaping in with his sword, Tyren used the Swatch Slash on it, and it recoiled in what seemed like terror. Just as he lifted his sword again, the creature called upon its own magic, and unleashed a devastating attack on him, and he felt like a bomb had just hit him. His yellow materia glowed.
Groaning, and unable to move, he was lifted into the air in the creature's jaws. The oversized maw, he could tell, was crushing his body, and he could feel his life slowly ebbing away. The pain of his failure wiped out all else from his mind, his despair crushing him much more effectively than the Zolom.
For a reason that eluded him, he was dropped to the ground as the Zolom cried out in pain. Looking up, he noticed a dagger protruding from one of the creature's eyes. As it thrashed in agony, he heard the sound of a chocobo, and was unceremoniously picked up and dumped on its back as it passed by. He noticed, as they rode, that they seemed to be heading towards the mountains, instead of away from them. Unable to find his voice to inform the rider that it was the wrong way, he settled for emitting a single groan, before he passed out.