The entire village was in chaos, three of the four jesters were dead, and the prophetess was fighting off the beast on her own.
Meanwhile, strange men wearing black, wielding cutlasses, jumped over the fence on all sides, ambushing and chaining anyone wearing a jester hat.
Harley remained low-key inside the broken shack, remaining cautious. He was watching the fight between the prophetess and the monster with a side eye.
'If she's defeated, then it's over. She has to win.' He clenched his fists.
Right now, everyone was hoping for a blind woman to come to their rescue. And it did seem like she was winning.
The wingless dragon had sustained multiple cuts, the most prominent ones being on its legs. It spewed scorching fire outwards, burning down the houses all around it.
"That's enough!" The Prophetess screamed, appearing underneath the creature and thrusting her hand upwards.
Before her arm could tear into the flesh though, the creature vanished in a white flash, stunning everyone around it.
*BANG!*
Harley frowned, straining his eyes despite the light.
He gasped, his eyes widening at the sight ahead of him.
The prophetess... there... was a fist-sized hole in her chest, and she wasn't moving anymore. At the entrance of the village, there was... What looked like a cannon.
"It's over." Harley frowned, slumping on the ground.
"Round them all up!"
"Move it!"
The man began to drag the members of their village, seeing some of them brutally dragging children with their necks made him feel pity for them all.
Even if all of this was an illusion, it was too cruel to watch.
'No, this is normal. Countries fight each other, killing innocents. I might not know what is happening, but I'm sure I'm in the middle of some kind of feud, or a real war—'
~Please...
Harley's thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice sounding close to him. He recognized this voice.
Then, he looked to see that the prophetess was still on her knees, looking directly at him from that distance with a smile.
Harley looked away, he couldn't look at her like this. Taking up the guise of the enemy.
~You have to flee and avenge us another day.
Her voice grew weaker, and so did she in real life. Harley closed his eyes, ignoring the guilt washing over him.
He stood up and walked towards the middle of the village, where the pirates had gathered the villagers.
The pirates stood in an arc, and Harley joined them, pulling up the shirt's collar to cover the lower half of his face.
"Hahahaaa! Worshippers of Jester!" A thick voice came from beyond the gates and all the pirates stood straight.
The man had a thick, black beard with an actual pirate hat. He had a Cutlass sheathed on his waist, wearing a white coat.
The man was bulky, hiding muscles beneath all the clothes he wore. And that wasn't what made Harley frown at the sight of the man; it was because he was seven and a half feet tall.
"With the war going on between our gods, you should've known that by being neutral, you chose to be enemies." The captain said, one side of his lips curling upwards.
'A war? No one mentioned that.' Harley frowned.
The village of jesters, as much as he observed, seemed like a very peaceful bunch. They held celebrations, sat around campfires to talk, and danced around with music like the entire world was at peace with them.
And no one inside the small village ever mentioned anything about a war that he heard about.
'It seems like there is a lot more I need to put together.' he thought
The captain stretched his hand, revealing a strange symbol on his hand. The symbol glowed, and from it, the drake emerged in a flash of light, standing tall over the people.
All the wounds that it sustained from the fight with the prophetess were miraculously healed, and it was standing tall once more.
With a single wave of his hand, the creature opened its maw, letting out a stream of flames that consumed everyone in front of it.
Harley closed his eyes. He was almost one of them; he was almost cooked, just like them.
The screams of women, men, and children filled his ears, and he looked at the captain, having a disgusting, wide smile on his puffy face while stretching his hand towards the villagers.
Harley looked up at the wingless dragon. It was much more fearsome upfront, and it was much taller as well. Standing at over seven metres tall, its teeth were more than a foot long each.
But there was something else about it, Harley felt a subtle pressure around the creature that seemed to rattle him to the core.
"Amazing isn't it?" A whisper came from his side, making him turn.
There beside him as a young man, seemingly a kid with a wide, playful smile on his face.
The young man had wild black hair that covered one of his eyes, there was a visible dark circle on his visible eye. The kid was tall, but lean. Too lean to be fighting with pirates.
"The captain has a rare familial bond. And it's a fable-level creature." The boy spoke, talking like he was seeing his favourite toy from afar.
"You look too young to be with pirates..." Harley commented, looking back at the flames that dissolved the bodies bit by bit.
"Well, I call it a hustle. I may not be proud but I'm surviving. I'm hoping to buy a boat of my own one day."
The kid's smile was so wide at this point that Harley felt that it could infect him.
"Arghahah!" The captain laughed loudly.
The wingless dragon suddenly vanished in a white light again. The sight before the pirates was very nauseating.
The bodies were burnt to a crisp and none of them were recognizable. One thing ran through Harley's mind.
Whatever this trial was about, had to be worth all this risk. If he were discovered right now, god knows what he'll face at the hands of these tyrants.