Zilo, Leo, and Alaroc sat shocked and fearful for their friend Cruxis about to be set upon by 4 skilled swordsman, and the three of them as well. The three of them huddled together immediately and Alaroc began the discussion by stating.
"Matrix knows he can't win, He's hoping for blood to be spilled."
Zilo grimaces and says, "I know, we need to free him if the 4 of us-"
Leo cuts off Zilo and says, "No, fighting a royal decree even from a duke is the worst thing we could do, didn't you all say you had pull with the king? Can you call on that or something."
Alaroc notices the rest of the fighters filing down and motions for Zilo and Leo to walk and talk so as not to look suspicious. He follows up with the statement, "We don't have time, they are forcing us in now, If one of us isn't there..."
Leo stops him with his hand and waits to see the rest of the fighters file away into the arena then retrieves his spellbook and casts the spell Silent Image to conjure an image of Zilo that looks identical to the fetchling.
"I can handle that, Zilo, you see if you can go convince Matrix to change his mind. If anyone can talk him into it, you have the best chance."
Zilo is examining his illusion clone and tries to touch it's face, only to have his hand phase through. After hearing Leo's words Zilo nods and quickly begins throwing on a rapid quick disguise to fool some of the guards into thinking he isn't the fighter in the arena.
Alaroc hands Zilo a folded piece of paper and says, "Worst comes to worst, show him this paper, should give you the upper hand, good luck friend."
Alaroc, Leo, and the false Zilo march off into the arena for the match as Zilo sighs heavy and makes his way out to the entryway. once past the entryway and into the small plaza he finds there are too many people there. Zilo grumbles and looks around.
He spots some misplaced bricks along the side of the arena that would line right up with Matrix's viewing platform. He quickly comes up with a plan. He leaves his violin and bo on the ground and retreats behind an empty stall in the plaza.
He then casts Mage Hand to float his violin up into that air as he had dozens of times before and begins to play. The crowd gathers around to watch the ghostly performance, and once the guards watching the perimeter walk over to investigate Zilo makes his move.
He makes for the wall and with his considerable coordination from his skill in dance, Zilo deftly leaps from stone to stone. He doesn't as much climb, more like make risky leap up and in over and over. As he approached the midpoint to the top he realized he'd be out of range for his spell, and awkwardly held his hand down and away while holding on for dear life.
He was only 10 feet from a platform that he could rest at, but the strain of keeping the spell going was pulling at the bard. In that moment of struggle he could hear the sound of metal clashing with metal inside the arena. Cruxis was fighting, and Zilo was just sitting here. The bard made a call.
He began the violin's finale by hurtling the violin and bo high into the air as he could then let the spell fizzle. As soon as the spell died he snapped to and jumped as high up and back as he could. He wasn't even remotely close to the ledge, but he flicked out his whip and used it to wrap on and tighten on a decoration before he would fall.
Now with more of a sturdy hold the bard quickly scrambled up the way before the guards saw him as they turned back to their positions. Zilo rolled up onto the ledge and spun, and began to scan the sky. After a few moments he spotted his violin and snapped out his arm to recast Mage Hand, and in one fluid motion he made the violin raise further up and away, making it look as though it flew off into the distance over the arena.
He then floated it back down into the bard's pack as he began to climb the second half of the arena. So long as he heard metal clash on metal he knew Cruxis was alive. The bard's sweat was making his face disguise melt off his face. He struggled a bit more on the second wall as exhaustion was beginning to wear him down until he came to a stop. As he hear the clanging continue he retrieves a dagger to get a edge on his climb.
In a swift move he cut the band holding his bag to his lower back and let his pack fall to the ground. without his weapons and gear weighing him down he could continue moving. His climbing was still stunted, but possible. He climbed up the side of the arena to see Cruxis holding his own versus himself and Leo.
Cruxis looked wounded, so Zilo would need to move fast. Zilo ran to the edge top of the arena and leapt off. he spotted the balcony with Matrix below, viewing the fight and so Zilo reached for his whip... only to recall it was in his bag. Zilo panicked and fell headlong into the floor of the duke's platform.
As he turned over he saw at least three pikes to his face and he smiled innocently, "So milord who's winning?"
"Kill him." Said the Duke almost off offhandedly and the bard responded, "Which one? Wait, it'd be rude to crash your landing then kill one of your guards, So I'm gonna have to decline."
Matrix's brow furrows in shock and he motions for his guards to stand down, now noticing that Zilo is one of the competitors currently in the arena. he points to both Zilos in succession and Zilo stands and explains, "Just a bit of magic Matrix, don't worry your head on it."
Matrix turns away from the fight and Looks to his new guest and he asks, "Magic, figures that I'd have more than one cheater in my tournament, but at least you know how to show restraint, unlike that Cruxis man there."
"Oh, yeah, no my magic isn't even meant for fights anyway, I'm more for helping others, but that doesn't mean it isn't a spectacle to watch. That is actually why I wished to speak with you, I'd like you to rethink your definition of cheating with magic."
"This tournament hasn't changed it's rules since the days of my great grandfather's reign, and I will not be tolerating cheaters."
Zilo sighs heavy and reaches for Alaroc's note, only to find he still was missing his pack. Zilo's eyes widen as he sees Cruxis fleeing from Leo and into the wave blade user.
"But milord, Isn't the audience what matters,not some old fashion set of rules, You saw how the crowd cheered when Cruxis took down that half-orc. Bards like I would kill for a crowd like that."
Matrix stops and thinks this over. Zilo fidgets up and down as he sees Cruxis get demolished into the ground by the wave blade user's kick. Just as the man lifts the unconscious Paladin he looks to the Lord to see if the man should be spared or not.
Matrix rises and takes a deep breath
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