True, Talændrel didn't take into consideration the ultimatum that no spiritual substance could escape out of the river, being as old and older than man himself, so foolishly he tried to pit his strength against that of mightier beings and their creations, a mistake that could cost him the ascension to godhood. Conveniently to the situation, came the feline demigod with a plan of it's own which succeeded in resurfacing the boat from the depths of the river. Now that all were aboard the boat, it quietly started to move forward, following the river's stream.
Just entering the first layer, Talændrel felt the change in ambience, still not fazed by it as much as he was "distracted" by all the spirits habitant to this layer. Some even passing close to them, saying what they willed as their individual voices weren't even close to the ones inside Talændrel. That to be expected as he selected the most fierce souls for this journey, after all those were the ones which possessed more power, meaning more power to draw from them. These spirits were meek and void of any goal, be it in life or after it, not even worth paying attention too.
Since they entered hell, Eclipse had rather "degraded" a little, judging from the aura that he emanated when he first encountered him, now it wasn't as glorious and filled with justice and righteousness, peaceful and protective as some might have felt. Was that coming from the disconnection with god that was first felt when entering this layer? Surely one can't be that reliant on their god to lose everything one achieved from the shortest amount of absence from them. As he began to talk about how god is within everybody,Talændrel couldn't help but faintly smirk, having lost almost everything coming from the suffering and dealing with the most wretched of the forsaken souls, this was his highest way of expressing amusement, again, not being amused by many things. Sounding just like a preacher, although most of the preachers are the first to go to hell, seemed like the case here.
In the river, submerged and seemingly lifeless, lay the mutilated body of a serpentine beast, clearly someone/something had already dealt with it long before them, maybe the past groups of demigods that ventured in hell? Most certainly with a "god-sponsored" quest of their own. It was only a deceased vessel now. As the boat moved past it, Talændrel could feel a large amount of soul power gathering in the serpent's body. Turning back to see, the formerly dead beast was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, the massive serpent shot out from the depths of the river, fangs wide open, ready engulf its first victim. Talændrel was thrown backwards a little by the surprise appearance of the beast sending the boat back, but just as quickly he regain balance and threw his wires infused with souls wrapping the beast's head and upper body. The wires managing to reduce the beast's movement to a degree. He than jumped out of the boat and forcefully dragged the serpent away from the boat, towards the woods, something achieved from the power he siphoned from his souls. While the wires steadily tightened around the beast's body, cutting through it's body and the soul inside it. In the end, all that would be left of it was meat stripes.(or whatever that beast was made of...in stripes.)
