"Your Majesty, I am Luther, the commander of the Regular Fighter Army."
In the reserve camp set up as per his orders, Daneel met the famous third commander for the first time.
Each and every story about this man was told with a tone of awe in the army. 'Born for the battlefield' was his moniker, and Daneel wished he could sit down with this man and find out just why he was known by this domineering name, but this was simply not the time or location.
The meeting would begin in a half-hour, and the advance army of the Lanthanor Kingdom comprising of 10,000 soldiers had already reached the Border Gate. The meeting would take place in a large tent erected underneath the humongous gate that separated the two Kingdoms.
Asking him to rise from his bow, Daneel said, "Luther, glad to finally make your acquaintance. I heard that you have the most experience amongst all the commanders. What do you think about this meeting?"
Hearing this, the scarred man first looked towards Aran and Cassandra who were also beside the King. The reserve camp was simply a group of tents set up with additional soldiers stationed here, waiting to teleport to the gate in case any altercation occurred.
As it was a formal event, Aran wore a velvet robe that reached his knees while Cassandra had donned leather pants and a maroon waistcoat over a white shirt. As for Daneel, he was wearing a dress similar to the one which he had worn for the coronation, now with a silver dragon instead of the crimson one.
"I have nothing new to say except what Aran and Cassandra must have already told you, My Lord. We will try our best to protect you in case things do go awry. The Black Raven Kingdom have never been the most peaceful of allies, and it is best to be cautious. I will be waiting outside with our army to rush in if you give the signal."
Nodding, Daneel said, "Alright. Leave me alone for a bit. We shall depart in a few minutes."
Although the request was a bit weird, everyone left the tent, leaving Daneel alone. Closing the tent flaps, he walked to a large box which he had said contained trinkets that might be of use.
It was 7 foot long and 3 feet wide, and it had been made by the Palace Carpenter as per his specifications.
"Deploy clone."
Taking off the robe, Daneel wore a casual shirt before entering into the box. The box had small air holes, making it so that his original body wouldn't suffocate to death and make the box the coffin of the King of Lanthanor.
Walking out after he was done, Daneel ordered the retinue to continue towards the meeting.
The three commanders had indeed urged him to be careful, but they didn't know that his cautiousness had already reached the next level.
.....
70 feet high and 50 feet wide, each and every border gate of the Kingdom of Lanthanor was a sight to behold. Many wondered just why such gigantic gates had even been constructed in the first place, but there was no answer to this age-old question.
Normally a busy location with traders and travelers passing through the gate, it was now closed off to all.
A 30 feet by 30 feet tent had been set up exactly in the middle of the gate, making it so that one part of it was in the Black Raven Kingdom, while the other was located on the sovereign land of the Lanthanor Kingdom.
"Enemy army approaching!"
The soldiers present on the gate and the surrounding walls had already been filled with tension due to the tense atmosphere. This shout only served to make more sweat appear on their already drenched backs.
Indeed, an army with at least 10,000 soldiers had just reached the vicinity of the border. From the distance, the soldiers could see that it was comprised mostly of individuals wearing black clothes carrying spears in their hands.
As they stopped their march, a group of 50 people detached from this force and made their way to the gate.
Instructions had already been set in place, so of the 50, 5 entered the tent from the entrance situated in the Black Raven Kingdom.
"Oh? And I thought I arrived early."
The King of Lanthanor was already calmly seated on a wide chair. Around him, there were four individuals standing at attention and attentively looking around.
Of these four, one seemed strangely familiar to the man who had just entered the tent and said these words. Yet, try as he may, he just couldn't figure out why this was so.
The Black Raven King was wearing the fur of some sort of animal on his shoulders, with carefully sculpted bone shoulder guards contrasting with the deep, dark color of the fur coat.
He was accompanied by 4 individuals who had ravens similar to the one gifted to Daneel standing on their shoulders.
As people of equal status, the etiquette module which he had activated in the Heads Up Display of the system had already told him that there was no reason to stand in order to greet the other party.
Thus, Daneel simply watched on as his counterpart sat down with the four men standing at attention behind him.
"You did, and so did I."
Chuckling at Daneel's measured response, the man said, "I trust you have been well, King Daneel. When you hear about the reason for the meeting, you will understand my ur-"
His voice cutting off abruptly, the man turned around to look at a specific location.
"Jondar, go."
With a wave of his hands, a gigantic Black Raven at least half the size of a human suddenly came into existence in the air in front of him.
Switching on his elementary sight, Daneel looked on with shock, unable to understand just how this beast had escaped his senses. The space was locked in the location, and he also hadn't detected any spacial disturbances indicative of a breach.
With a single flap of its wings, the raven accelerated to a blinding speed and flew out of the tent like a bullet after effortlessly making a hole in the fabric which could apparently only be cut by someone at the level of an Exalted Human Fighter.
Only a few seconds later, the raven came back clutching a dead man in its talons. The man's stomach had a huge gaping hole, while the raven's beak and a part of its head were covered in blood.
Dropping the man at the foot of the Black Raven King, the raven blinked out of existence again.
This time, Daneel managed to observe and figure out just what had happened before. The raven had somehow turned into a stream of elementary particles with entered the King's body, almost as if it were a spell instead of a living being.
Yet, at the last moment before the raven disappeared, Daneel could have sworn that it looked to his right with an expression of hope and longing in its eyes.
Indeed, to his right was Faxul, who had been staring at the bird all this while.
"Humph, an Axelorian dog. He was standing near my army. Anyway, let's get down to business."
Saying so after bending down to touch the body, the Black Raven King sat back down in his chair.
With a nod of his, one of the soldiers standing behind him walked forward and took the body away.
Daneel knew that this had simply been a show of force, in order to establish the King's dominance by displaying his power.
Of course, the reason he knew this was that he had also planned something similar which would have the same effect, but it was towards the end of the meeting.
Yet, all such thoughts flew out of his head when he heard the Black Raven King speak again after scratching the scar that ran across his face.
"I wish to ally with the Lanthanor Kingdom to fulfill an order for a certain shipment of goods to one of the Big Four. The reward is that two individuals will be able to enter the tutelage of that force and learn their secret spell technique. If you agree, I am willing to share one spot with your Kingdom."