(Patriot POV)
A large black bear-like Demon lunges at him, trying to snap its jaws around his neck. He sidesteps its lunge and uses both of his hands to pierce the side of the beast's body with his halberd, pushing it on the ground. Stepping on its paw to keep it at bay, he forces the halberd deeper into the creature's body, all the while it tries to claw and bite him, its attacks bouncing off from his armor and dark red glow surrounding it. For several more seconds the beast tries to fight back against him, but with a final small thrust of his weapon, it falls dead.
Taking out his halberd from the dead body, Patriot cautiously observes his surroundings for several moments before lovering his weapon.
I need to find the weak spot of these large Demons when I have to fight them in the future…
He muses, while picking up his shield and his unconscious comrades near it, before carefully continuing on the way he was taking before the Demons attacked him.
They don't seem to be completely natural, attacking with disregard to the danger for them, while also showing clear signs of the intellect, rare for any simple animal…
The sky is still dark, with only occasional light from the broken moon. Dark shapes of the Demons can be seen on the edges of his vision from time to time, no doubt stalking him, trying to catch him by surprise since direct attack did not succeed.
They do not have any blood and their bodies dissipate after death, yet they seem to experience at least some degree of pain. The sabertooth ones and large ones have many similar qualities, so there seems to also exist a variety between these Demons, which means that I will most likely have to fight other different breeds of these creatures in the future…
He continued to silently analyze these beats in his head, when the sight of his hand, still glowing dimly, reminded him of another curious aspect of this unknown place.
This glow seems to create some sort of barrier around my body and armor, which can defend against the attacks of these Demons and the surrounding cold, as well as enhancing my physical strength… It feels natural to use, and I can also sense that it has limits and somewhat diminishes from physical attacks and continuous use… Still, it will greatly aid me in both combat and traversing the frozen tundra.
Deciding to preserve this energy for later, he concentrated on it and a moment later the barrier around his body disappeared. Again feeling the full force of the cold around him, he took another look at his surroundings before resuming his way where he hoped to find at least some form of shelter.
—-
(Patriot POV)
The first signs of dawn started to show as Patriot continued silently to walk through the snow. The Demons attacked several more times during the night, but it wasn't his first time fighting enemies in the frozen tundra, while defending non-combatants.
Even with the first rays of winter sun he remained vigilant, ready to snap into action the moment he saw or heard any signs of these black Demons.
Catching a strange silvery shine in the distance, he stopped for a moment to look carefully at what it might be. A large metal object could be seen several hundred meters from the hill where Patriot was standing. It looked quite damaged and was half buried in the snow, but it was unmistakably man-made.
Doesn't really look like a building, so perhaps this is some form of vehicle? It looks like it can be a decent enough shelter and perhaps I can find something useful.
Deciding on his course of action, he started to carefully descend from the hill and approach the vehicle.
Midway through however, several dark shapes in the snow near it caught his eyes.
Bodies… He recognized the humanoid shapes, dressed in some sort of uniform, instantly. Tensing up, he quickly readied his halberd for an attack, his eyes scanning the surrounding area. Images of both his comrades and enemies, whose frozen bodies were left in the cold desolate Ursus tundra, combined with the sight of these unknown bodies before him.
Taking a steadying breath, he slowly moved closer to one of the corpses, noting the marks from large claws and fangs going through the armor of the unfortunate man in several places. Briefly looking at other bodies, of which there were four, he noticed similar wounds, with some corpses having body parts thorn from them.
Torn apart by the Demons and left in the snow… They did not even eat the bodies, just killed mercilessly…
Silently uttering several words of prayer for these unknown soldiers, he continued towards the vehicle.
From the experience, he could guess that these people died around a month or maybe two, depending on the seasons and weather of this place, so there was even a small chance that he could find some working electronics inside the vehicle.
This seems to be an airship of sorts… It's not very large, probably enough for 10-15 people. Considering the armor on the bodies, the ship is likely military use, so there might even be some still working weapons.
Finding what looked like a door, he tried to open it, but it didn't budge.
Probably frozen and maybe barricaded from inside, which means that there might have been people who weren't killed by the Demons…
He carefully laid his allies on the ground and tried to open the door again, using a bit more force. He used his halberd to break the ice on the outside of the door, and after a few seconds of resistance it rougly slid to the side with a loud clang.
Taking a good look inside, he saw the somewhat damaged interior with six more corpses of soldiers. Quickly taking his unconscious allies inside for safety, he approached them. Four likely died of hunger and hypothermia. One died from wounds, possibly blood loss or infection, judging by several red bandages on his body and near him. Final body was near some broken device that someone clearly tried to repair but without any success. Gunshot woound could be seen on his temple and his hand clutched some sort of a small firearm.
He looked at hem for a few seconds before silently composing himself. He picked up the corpses one by one and laid them some distance outside the ship in a line. Debating with himself for a moment, he searched them for anything useful, finding a couple of unknown devices, some small miscellaneous things and their dog tags.
"Forgive me, fallen soldiers of these unknown lands, but first of all I must ensure the safety of those close to me. May you rest in peace."
Turning away from the corpses he went to the small tree closest to him before snapping off its branches with his hands.
I need to find enough wood to create at least some fire for warmth inside the ship. Then I should check it for any useful items and information.
Deciding on the course of actions, Patriot moves to the next tree, while still carefully observing the surroundings for Demons or any other potential threats.