Chapter 3: Meeting and Sparks

June 2 1320 AD

In a rundown keep in New Lothrad there was a meeting going on and it would be this very meeting that would change the course of the country forever. Now from the outside this may seem like a group of friends having drinks and laughs while they spend the night on the town but it was the first of many strategic planning missions led by none other than Clay.

"Welcome gentlemen to the first meeting of The Green Corps" Clay began while scanning the group. It seemed that there were about 20 guys there. "My name is Clay. You can address me as General or Dream. These are the next 2 in charge George and Sapnap. The green corps mission is to free this land of corruption and help set in a new system that will be clean."

There were some murmurs in the crowd as people processed what he was saying. Then a man from the back threw his glass at Clay which he was barely able to dodge.

"You traitorous son of a bitch!" He shouted marching at Clay. "You dare speak against the throne like that?"

George steps forward putting himself between Clay and the man while unsheathing his sword. Until he felt a hand on his shoulder by none other than Clay.

"Let me handle this George." He said before turning to the man who was still furious with him. "Now let's start again, what's your name sir?"

"I'm hurt Clay or should I call you Dream? Do you really don't know who I am?" The man said, still coming towards him. It wasn't until he stepped into the light where Clay recognized him.

"Tommy?" Clay said. "What are you doing, join us, don't you see the injustices committed by the military?"

"Oh I've heard all about it from Wilbur about how you and your ragtag team of bandits tried to kill him and how the guards were just barely able to make you guys retreat! I thought I was going to come here and find some pathetic wimps who were complaining and I found out that it was you guys who tried to overthrow the crown." Tommy spat at him with venom.

"Tommy that's not what happened you have to trust me." Clay said emphatically.

"I'm not going to sit here and listen to your lies any longer Dream." He sneered and with that Tommy turned his back on Clay and marched out of the keep.

There was silence in the keep as you could hear even the smallest of pins drop on the floor. There were a couple of guys that followed Tommy out for varying reasons most of which being they weren't sure if the group was trustworthy or not.

"Ok those of you who are still here I'm assuming want to hear the plan if not you can join the rest in leaving." Clay said, scanning once again it seemed as if there were only 10 of them left including the original 3. "So Fort Norhall is just outside of town on the hill and in that fort there are enough supplies and weapons for this war. We will take 2 forces, 6 of you will take the ones in front and one person will join us 3 going around the back and making sure no reinforcements can get called in. Any volunteers?"

A man stepped forward as soon as Dream had stopped volunteering for going with them. Then it was set that the next day at dusk they would begin the first operation of the green corps and everyone split they're different ways.

"Clay" George called out to him. "What do you think Tommy is going to do?"

The question didn't catch him off guard per se but it wasn't something he could answer easily as in reality he didn't know what Tommy was going to do. Dream thoughts were interrupted though by the same guy who had volunteered instantly.

"General" The man said. "My name is Punz it's an honor sir"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dream this is George" he said while pointing to George. "And this is Sapnap, now tell me Punz why is it you're fighting?"

"Sir I want to be able to help make the world safer and if that means ridding it of corruption then I need to be here fighting." He replied valiantly.

"I like your answer." Dream responded. "We are walking back to our inn, where are you staying, Punz?'

"Sir I was planning on spending it camping in the forest because I traveled here from my home village so it is either an inn or food at the current moment so I chose food." He said.

"Come now we can't have that I have some extra money I'll get you a room for the night." Dream said happily.

"I couldn't accept sir." Punz declined.

"Please, I insist." He ensured.

Then the group began heading to the inn rowdy as ever taking up the majority of the path as they walked.

"So Punz where are you from?" Sapnap inquired

"From a small town east of here name Tekua. I lived there with my family peacefully until one day bandits came and ransacked the village. My entire family was killed in the attack and there were a few other people and myself who got out . When I heard about your group forming I knew that I needed to join so that we could help others." He said with confidence.

"Hey Punz we will be able to help others by fixing the system and then there will be a non-corrupt army that will be willing to protect other villages. So what happened to you won't happen to anyone else." George chimed in.

By the end of the conversation they had ended up in front of the inn. By the looks of it the inn was lopsided and almost looked like it could fall over at any moment. The 4 men walked in approaching the innkeeper.

"Yes can I have one more room." Clay said to the woman.

"That'll be 25 Xyc" She responded kindly.

Clay handed the money over to the lady and then she gave him the key. The 4 men proceeded up the stairs to their individual rooms and got prepared for the next day.

When Clay got to his room he let out a sigh. It was a long day and he just needed to sit down and process what exactly had happened. They had seen Tommy and he was so angry he went on about how Clay George and Nick had tried to hurt will and that there was a fight in the palace. Something was not adding up why Will would lie to Tommy and tell Tommy that they betrayed him was confusing him. Clay was dragged out of thought when he heard a knock on his door. Clay got out of the chair he had flopped on and went to open the door and when he did he saw George.

"We need to talk." George said urgently. Clay moved out of the way to let George in. "I'm worried about what Tommy was saying, would Wilbur lie to him like that?"

"It doesn't sound like Wilbur, don't forget he is our friend he wouldn't do that to us. His message was probably altered by someone." The taller man assured him. "We just need to be more careful because the army can't know where we meet otherwise we all end up dead."

"Yeah you're probably right." George said, letting out a big yawn after he finished.

"Go to bed, we need to get up early for supplies tomorrow." Clay said firmly.

They gave their goodbyes and Clay watched as the door shut behind George and once again went to relax and go to sleep.

May 30 1320 AD

Tommy woke up in his barrack before the sun had risen and he was up because he had received special orders from his commanding officer to pack his things and depart for New Lothrad. He jumped out of bed being careful not to rouse anyone else as he slipped on his boots made his bed quickly and headed for the door. It was a 2 and a half day journey so he was going to be alone for a good chunk of time. He grabbed a pack in which there was some food and water and a few Xyc and he grabbed a horse for the road.

While on the road Tommy thought back to his orders which had been infuriating to say the least he was told there was a group of revolutionaries meeting in an old keep in New Lothrad. They were considered high priority targets and he was sent to infiltrate and find out their plans. The revolutionaries had already made one attempt on Wilbur's life, when would they make the next Tommy thought to himself.

Tommy finally arrived around evening on the day of the meeting. It didn't take him long to find the keep as he tried to find a spot to tie his horse up outside. Once that was done he went into the building and he soon realized that it wasn't just a few people it was a full on group. Tommy was worried but he stayed ordering himself a drink at the bar. That's when the meeting started Tommy heard a very familiar voice talking, his head shot to look up at the stage and his worst fear was confirmed there stood his friend Clay. It all began to make sense Clay had disappeared from the barracks around the time of the attack on Wilbur and he hadn't come back probably cause he was on the run.

Anger was all Tommy felt he had been betrayed by someone he called a friend, someone he grew up with and yet there Clay was preaching on how he was right and Tommy saw red. He took his mug and threw it as hard as he could and then the next thing he knew he was stomping out of the keep. He watched as he saw quite a few follow him out so his mission wasn't a complete failure. But for now he needed to get some rest and figured he could just stay the night in an inn and ride back to Calnetod the next day to report what he had found out.

June 3 1320 AD

Clay George and Nick had gone out early that morning grabbing supplies for the mission and they would be meeting the rest of the group in a forest about a mile away from the fort. There was still about an hour but the 3 men went to scope out the surrounding area of the base. They saw that there was a sewer pipe around the back that had lost its grate so they could be able to squeeze in there.

"Nick get down," Clay said in an urgent tone. There had been a guard looking almost directly at them causing panic to the older man. "Look let's just get out of here for now and come back when we have the darkness as a cover."

Time Skip

There was a group of 9 men sitting around a large stump in the forest one man was standing pointing at a map.

"So as the 6 of you rush the fort you cause enough of a distraction for us 4" gesturing to himself and Punz George and Sapnap. "To sneak up through the sewers and take out any guards trying to signal for reinforcements." The group looked at him before nodding and grabbing their weapons.

As the group approached Fort Norhall they broke into 2 groups as 6 men went to the front and the other 4 went up the riverbank to the back. Dream was trying to calm his nerves as he slowly crept up to the pipe he looked behind him seeing 3 men right there and so he took the first step inside. As they went down the dark tunnel they were able to hear shouts from above them and they could tell they needed to hurry. Dream began to pick up the pace to a jog realizing that nobody was going to hear them with the fight raging on above them. They finally get to the exit and push up the metal blocking it and they see utter chaos but there was little time to hesitate as they jumped out and joined the fight.

"You three split up and go look for stragglers that might be able to signal for aid." Dream shouted.

He watched as they had pushed back the crown army into the elevated armory and they held that position with crossbows aimed at the door. Though they didn't account for Dream as he began to slowly climb log to log up the wall getting up as quietly as possible and hopping through the opening behind a guard who had been separated from the rest of the group. He silently took the man down with his sword before grabbing his crossbow and bolts. Dream knew there were probably multiple men in the room through his door so he cracked it open just a peak and saw there were 3 guys in the room and 2 of them had swords and one had an axe. After seeing where they were, he charged.

He held up his shield to deflect the first man's hit Dream hit back with his shield staggering the man backwards. Just in time for the other 2 to charge him at once he slashes with his sword at the man on his right, feeling it connect and he hears the man scream in agony. Dream gets his shield up in time as the man on the left brings his axe down shaking Dream as he knows his arm is going to be bruised after that hit. There was a lull in combat as it was no the one man Dream struck before passed out from blood loss. He watches as the 2 slowly approach from either side. Then the man with the axe charge Dream braced himself for the attack and it was a miracle that he was able to stay on his feet. With the axe being such a heavy weapon Dream was able to thrust his blade through the other man's gut. There was one problem: the man behind him had begun to run at him and he was stuck. He acted as fast as he could spinning around and throwing up his blade knowing his shield was too slow and bulky. The problem with blocking with his sword was he could only deflect not stop. Dream sword significantly slowed his aggressor's but it wasn't enough as the sword sliced him from the top of his nose to the bottom of his ear deep enough to leave a scar. Dream felt adrenaline pumping through him as he pushed the man back and was able to finish him off. He then fell to his knees and felt so tired but knew he had to get back up.

Nick had finished off the last of the men either having them surrender or killing them himself, he was able to see the men that had surrendered tied up in an open area of the fort. He looked around worried because he was unable to see Clay. He ran up to George out of breath and panting.

"Have you seen Clay?" he asked studying George's face for any sign of where their friend might be.

"I saw him climbing into the armory from the back but I haven't seen him since." George said in a panicked tone. "Let's go."

They ran up the ramp going to the armory both fearing the worst as they burst through the door swords in hand ready to fight all they saw was Clay sitting with his back against the wall with his head down with 3 men lying around him.

"Clay are you alright?" George asked worriedly after receiving no response George kneeled next to him and slowly reached out he panicked at what he saw. Blood Clay's face was covered in it and George lightly shook him.

"George…" Clay said weakly.

George put Clay's arm around his shoulder and motioned for Nick to grab the door for them as they slowly walked out.

As they were walking Clay began to speak his tone hushed "George tell the men to escort the prisoners to town and then we can begin preparing."

"Clay what do you mean preparing?" George asked inquisitively.

"For the counter-attack but more importantly the war." Clay said firmly.

That's going to be it for this chapter hope you enjoyed don't forget to R&R and follow see you all next time!