The new day had come and they left the lodge before the city had fully woken up.
King led Eli out through the lower gate and past the last of Belfort's outer buildings until they reached open ground.
King opened his interface and navigated to his summon roster. Ironhoof sat at the top, the newest of his acquisitions. He selected it and confirmed.
A summoning seal appeared and the pegasus materialized on the grass in front of them.
It was large. Larger than the warhorse it had been, the upgrade having added height and breadth across the chest. Its coat was dark grey, almost black in the early morning light, and the wings were folded tight against its body at rest, each one nearly the span of the animal's full length. It turned its head toward King and held still.
Eli looked at it for a long moment.
"That's new," he said.
"Yeah, it's a reward from the Proving," King said.
