No, you wake up to Brighid putting her armor on again.

The clanging of metal on metal heralds your return to wakefulness for the second morning in a row. If you had a pillow to throw at Brighid and were completely sure she wouldn't take it as an attack, you would throw one at her. Instead, you groan out a complaint and roll to your feet. You realize that you never bothered to put on your clothes after coming back from the creek, not wanting to sleep in wet clothes, but by now Brighid has seen all you have to show anyway so there's no sense being modest. After fixing that, you also realize that you never ate last night; the dull ache you're feeling is your empty stomach trying to claw its way out of your belly. You hastily wolf down another of the centaur trail rations and have just enough time to lick up the crumbs as Brighid finishes tightening all her straps.

Before you set out on the day's travel, Brighid spends another hour training you with your spear and armor. Her training is no less violent than the night before, but she isn't quite as rude with her comments on your form this time. She shows you -- again, by angrily telling you everything you're doing wrong -- some basic spear attacks, using a convenient tree stump as a target. You stab it again and again and every time she finds something to criticize, and each criticism is coupled with a blunt strike to your body. This morning she restricts herself to your armored body parts; though still quite painful, you don't think you'll get more than a little light bruising from her strikes.

At the end of the hour, you are covered in sweat but receive two very welcome prompts.

Congratulations! You have reached levels 3 through 5 in Spears. You are now a Novice in Spears; your attack speed is increased by 10% when wielding a spear.
Congratulations! You have reached levels 3 through 4 in Light Armor.

You have earned 50 experience for advancing a Skill to Novice rank.

Taking just a moment to wipe yourself down in the creek, you and Brighid set off on the third day of your quest. Today you and Brighid trade questions about your family and childhood. Brighid tells you about the day she told her mother, in no uncertain terms, that she was going to become a fighter. You tell her of when you and one of your childhood friends sneaked into the old abandoned house down the street and got trapped in the basement when the stairs collapsed. She laughingly describes an epic prank she pulled on Fionn that ended up with the old warrior having blue hair for an entire month. And so on, the hours pass by. Just after you finish spinning an exaggerated retelling of the time your dad got drunk and decided to take the whole family shark fishing -- Brighid is fascinated by your stories of the ocean, as she's never seen a body of water so big that she can't make out the opposite shore -- Brighid laughs and smiles a genuine smile at you and all of a sudden a new kind of prompt blossoms in your mind.

Congratulations! Your relationship with Brighid Fireheart has advanced from Neutral to Friendly.
She now views you as someone she can relate to and expect to treat her with fairness and respect.

Congratulations! For gaining a new Friendly relationship, you have earned 550 experience [500 base, +10% Lostlorn title]. Honor thy friends and they will honor you!

He checked his status screen again just to make sure he hadn't leveled off the new prompt, and while he was there he put the level 2 Skill advancement into Spears. He was a little disappointed when no prompt popped up, but regardless the next one should come sooner. He decided not to mention the relationship prompt or experience to Brighid; it seemed like the sort of thing which would be a faux pas to talk about openly. Instead he just listened attentively to her next story, this one about her initial apprenticeship to her old smithing master, Torvald. Time continues to slip by until you realize that the sun is about to pass behind the mountain range to the west.

"Aren't we going to stop and train tonight, Brighid?" You ask.

She shakes her head. "No. I want to push on until we are within sight of Bannagh Macht, and we are not quite there yet. Tomorrow we will enter the city and get to the bottom of the infestation. I want both of us fully rested and healed up for that." She looks over her shoulder at you, a serious look in her eyes. "There is one thing which I must stress beyond all others. No matter what happens in there, we must not let our talismans fall into the hands of the creatures behind the corruption. If I fall, I expect you to either take the talisman from my body or destroy it on the spot. If I fall and you do not think you can prevail over my killer or escape from the city, you must destroy both talismans. If the denizens of that place got hold of a working talisman, it would allow them to bypass the wards and once more expand their corruption across the land. That must be avoided at all costs. All costs, do you understand?" Wordlessly, you nod in response, and your appreciation of the weight of her request must show in your expression because she lets out a little sigh. "I do not mean to ask for trouble. I still believe that we will prove stronger than whatever evil we will face, but a stern warning saves a tragic ****."

You take a chance and reach up to place a hand on her armored shoulder and say, "You do not need to worry about that. I will not allow either of our talismans to be used for evil. You are the only friend I have in this Realm and your people seem honest and good-hearted, if a bit untrusting of strangers. I have no wish for my actions to bring calamity to you or your friends and family." She looks at you, startled, then gives another genuine smile and places her hand on yours, squeezing your hand gently. Her skin is soft and smooth, much smoother than you would expect from someone who spends their days fighting monsters or forging tools and equipment. After a short moment, you let your hand fall from her shoulder and the two of you continue walking.

Half an hour later, you come to the base of a low hill and Brighid calls a halt. "The lost city is just over this hill. We will camp here tonight, out of sight of anything which might be watching. There is no need to give them warning that we are coming." This time she sets up three rings of detection wards in addition to the air-warming spell, and only you throwing her own words about sleeping in armor back at her gets her to remove her plated mail. She absolutely refuses to take off the padded under-armor. You both eat your trail ration meal in silence, then turn in for the night. You dream terrible, bloody nightmares full of despair and heart-rending sorrow, but thankfully you cannot remember the details when you finally wake up the next morning.

Brighid is moaning in her sleep, her legs twitching like a dog dreaming of running and her head jerking back and forth. You kneel down next to her and place your hand on her shoulder, shaking her lightly and then more firmly when she fails to wake up from your first attempt. After a few more shakes, she jerks and her eyes shoot open. Her hand wraps around your wrist like a vice of steel and you're afraid she's going to rip your arm out of your socket, but then her eyes focus on you and she exhales noisily, letting go of your arm.

"Thank you, Aidan. I was having a most unpleasant dream."

"I know. I had nightmares, too. I don't remember any of the details, but I definitely did not sleep well."

Brighid frowns and sighs. "I did not realize that the corruption had grown so strong. It cannot be a coincidence that our sleep was untroubled before this but we were both tormented by terrible dreams as we slept just outside the city. I can only imagine how bad it will be inside the wards." She gets her feet under her and stands up. "Aidan, will you help me into my armor this morning? This is another thing which is normally done in pairs with us. I have managed on my own the last three days, but I want to be certain that everything is done properly before we head into battle."

"You will have to tell me what to do, but of course I will help you, Brighid." You respond.

She walks you through the process of attaching all of her armor to her. It is much, much more involved than video games lead you to believe; the sheer quantity of straps and buckles boggle your mind. How she managed to do this solo is completely beyond you. Still, even with Brighid having to explain each step to you, it takes the pair of you less time and causes much less noise than on previous days, and soon both of you are armed and armored. With a final shared glance, you both nod and begin walking up the hill.