Four days of decent roads, good weather, well-fed peasants, and an abundance of healthy, green, living things did wonders for their morale. Alain and Shiro were even civil towards one another. Anna and Brenden spent a great deal of time relating Arthurian tales to an eager audience. When the two argued the relative merits of Boorman and Elliot and Bradley, the other Knights still listened.

"When I think of Merlin, Nicol Williamson comes to mind, especially his voice," offered Brenden, starting a new chapter in the endless discussion.

Anna scoffed. "No, I've always thought John Houston's voice was right for Merlin. It sent chills up my spine as a little girl."

"Anna, John Houston was Gandalf," Brenden dismissed.

"So what?"

"Who is Gandalf? The name sounds familiar," interjected Alain.

"Another story, for another time," laughed Anna.

Before Alain's curiosity could generate more questions, Conn called out from point, "What have we here?"

Brenden looked around. They were passing a bend in the road, beyond which lay a short straightway before an oaken bridge crossed a narrow, rocky ravine at whose base splashed a large creek. Standing in the middle of the bridge was a figure over twelve feet tall hefting a medium-sized tree. His smile did not inspire trust.

Anna muttered, "Uh-oh, a giant," about the same time the smell hit her. Brenden spurred his horse forward. The horse balked and it spoke of Brenden's growing equestrian skill that he still maneuvered it towards the glowering and malodorous giant.

"It's against my better judgment, too," whispered Brenden to his horse. "I bet he's just as likely to prefer long pig as horse, but there's work to do." Brenden pulled up even with Conn, who had halted.

The giant waved the tree threateningly. "This is my bridge. Pay my toll or find another pass." On closer inspection, this giant was even dirtier and more brutish than the average Ayslish giant, some of whom were quite decent if a touch slow.

"What is your toll?" asked Conn in a deceptively reasonable voice.

"Your horses, all your horses for our dinner!" shouted the giant in savage glee. Brenden's horse snorted, but he had no time to contemplate his animal's apparent linguistic skill as the giant continued, "or send your champion to fight me on foot. If you win, you may pass. If I win, we eat you all." Ha, told you so, thought Brenden to his horse. Then, we?

Two more giants moved into the open on the other side of the bridge. One was female; these giants went in for personal modesty about as much as for personal hygiene. Brenden glanced at Conn. The Ayslish knight was doing a slow boil, and his sword hand was flexing and clenching of its own accord. "I take it you want a crack at Bubba here?" Brenden asked quietly. Conn gave a single, sharp nod. Pitching his voice to carry to the other two giants, Brenden replied, "Child of Cain, we accept. Conn Dragonslayer will fight you on foot in honorable single combat. Don't even think of cheating, or we'll have your skulls as soup tureens." And these are no war horses, so Conn would've taken you on foot anyway.

Conn dismounted and Brenden led his horse back to the others. Anna and Alain were already dismounted. Black turned away from he giants on the off chance they weren't as dull as they looked and could read lips. "I don't trust these hellspawn; they're going to try something. The horses will be more of a hindrance than a help. Let's move them back beyond the bend."

"My thoughts exactly," said Anna as she collected reins. "Alain, give me a hand, will you?"

As the two women retreated with the mounts, Black surprised Brenden with a slap on the back. "Child of Cain? That may be so. Well said, ah, Brenden."

Brenden smiled both at the spontaneous bit of male bonding and the Colour Sergeant's conscious effort to use his first name. "Thanks." before he could add more, Shiro leaned forward.

"We really shouldn't stand together, just in case."

Anna and Alain returned as Conn strode onto the bridge, Excalibur at the ready. The giant poked at Conn with his tree. Conn sidestepped easily and trimmed eighteen inches from its length. The giant twisted the trunk, hoping to use the branches as an impromptu swordbreaker. Against a lesser sword the ploy might have worked; instead the bridge's deck became greener. The giant pulled back, stomped to shiver the bridge, and swung at Conn's head like a tee shot. Conn stumbled badly. Instead of fighting to keep his feet and consequently having his head taken off, he rolled forward and came up in a neat thrust which the giant partially avoided by letting go of his oversized club and quickly twisting aside. Conn delivered a long cut to the giant's left leg and took a backhand in return which sent him sprawling backwards to the end of the planking.

Anna and the other Storm Knights winced to see Conn go flying. His armor rang like a poorly made bell and he landed in a sprawl. For a wonder, he bounced back up, apparently unharmed, before the giant took two steps towards him. Excalibur hissed in a figure eight, and the giant jumped backwards to save his hands, only to have his feet crash through the overstressed deck. Things happened very quickly then. The other two giants kicked boulders in the direction of the bridge. Shiro and Black shouted and drew; Shiro fired marginally quicker than the Colour Sergeant only because the Victorian took time to shoulder and aim his rifle. Alain's fireball capped the first volley across the ravine. The two boulder-tossing titans staggered from multiple hits, but shook them off and continued showering rocks. They threw in fast, flat arcs, forcing Conn to fling himself down. As he stared at his foe's navel, shadows of large, gnarled hands reached for his head. Conn arched, flipped over, and thrust upward. Sword met palm and steel won. The giant's pained howl drowned out the crash of gunfire, and his convulsive jerk pulled Conn halfway to his feet before Excalibur came free of the now-gaping wound. Conn scrambled upright but with his back to the giant in the bridge. Suddenly, the bridge bucked and canted wildly, throwing him off balance again. Conn desperately leaped for the river bank as the bridge listed to port. Luckily, he made it, but now he was an easy target for boulders.

The stones didn't come. The gunfire had forced the two giants across the ravine to hide amid their ammunition supply. Their bulk now worked against them, as they sought shelter from rocks less than half their size. Shiro's earlier suggestion to Brenden and Black paid off as the rocks now crashed down in high arcs; the two giants dared not expose themselves as they lobbed missiles at their stinging tormentors, rather than throw directly at Conn. Alain jumped left to avoid granite approaching on a ballistic trajectory only to discover the giantess had hit upon the time-honored high-low strategy. As Alain regained her footing the giantess stood and let fly a vicious underhanded toss that would have been the envy of any softball pitcher. Again Alain dove left and counted herself lucky to escape with several rock splinter cuts and a sprained knee. It proved a Pyrrhic victory for the giantess as the other four Storm Knights riddled her body. She jerked about like a marionette in the hands of an epileptic before pitching forward dead; Nephilim could be too clever.

Meanwhile, Conn confronted his opponent on firm ground. The giant had won free of his predicament by the simple expedient of walking through the bridge. One of the rough-hewn main beams was smashed, hence the torque-induced list of the deck. The giant wrested free a segment of the shattered beam, and came bounding after Conn, who charged in turn, screaming, "For Dunad!" They met at the junction of bridge and ravine. A flurry of wood and steel followed, accompanied by a soundtrack of grunts, groans, and cries. Conn ducked inside the giant's guard, intending a deadly skewer. The giant skipped back onto the bridge with unexpected agility, as Conn's momentum carried him along. The bridge groaned in protest at this further insult and more planking gave way, tumbling the two into the crevasse.

The remaining giant and the gun-toting storm knights broke cover simultaneously to see how the champions fared. The giant suddenly realized his mistake, and sprinted back for cover. He wasn't quick enough and received a lethal fusillade of lead and fire. The cordite odor mingled jarringly with the wildflowers' redolence as a light breeze escorted the former away. The only sound from the ravine was the brook. The Storm Knights ran to the edge to see what had passed.

Conn had things well in hand. He stood on chest of the giant, who apparently had been stunned in the fall. As Conn raised Excalibur to deliver the coup de grace, the giant blinked. "Mercy, Lord. Please spare me!" he cried out.

Conn stayed his hand from surprise as much as anything. "Why should I spare you? How many have you slain?"

"I repent of my evil ways. Spare me and I shall rebuild this bridge as part of my penance."

Anna called down. "I think he's serious, Conn. Let him up. We've got him covered just in case."

Conn shrugged and hopped off the giant. With the battle's end, Conn's hurts clamored for attention. He picked his way to the lip of the steep gully as if he had just aged thirty years. True to his word, the giant immediately set to piling up boulders until they were high enough to take up the job of the bridge's shattered span. Despite his wounds, the giant worked swiftly and efficiently, even leaving something of a channel for the stream. Shiro and Black started laying planks back into place. It was a patchwork job, but a bridge was taking shape.

Brenden and Anna looked over Alain. She reassured them. "I certainly know what the problem is, and how to fix it," she commented, hands passing over her swelling knee. "It won't be long now." She flexed her leg twice to test the joint. "We should see to Conn." The Ayslish warrior bore many spectacularly purpling bruises, but otherwise seemed hale. The women applied salves and padded his bruises. "No sense wasting magic when we may need it later," Alain noted. "I just speed up the body's healing. Used twice in one day, it does more harm than good." Conn stoically endured their attentions.

Finally the giant climbed back to the roadway. He looked to his slain comrades, then to Conn. "Lord, let me raise a cairn over my companions. They did not repent their wickedness before they died, but I do not want the crows picking out their eyes."

Conn stammered before the giant's earnestness. "Ummm, yes, by all means," he managed at last. As the giant set to his new task, Conn looked at Brenden and Anna in confusion.

"The tales do tell of a few last second conversions," admitted Brenden. "Strange as it may seem, I think Bubba is for real."

To his great surprise, Shiro didn't comment on the gullibility of the others in the face of the giant's transparent ploy to save himself.

His self-appointed task completed, the giant approached Conn like a faithful hound. In the process, he proved the solidity of the repairs to the bridge by crossing it. "Lord, with your leave I will seek out the monks of the abbey of St. Boniface. They can guide me in my penance, and I know they can use a strong back in the fields."

The titan seemed sincere. "Yes, yes. Seek out the path of Honor. But first, let us tend your wounds." Alain clucked over the maimed hand. The wound could be closed, but the hand might never work the same. Anna and Brenden debrided the wound the best they could and bandaged it, using up a sizable portion of their supplies. Conn put his hand over the wound. "Dunad, if this giant is truly on the path of Honor, let his flesh be renewed with his soul." His words had no obvious effect, but Conn did not seem disappointed. After a few minutes, the giant wiggled his fingers after a fashion, which was more than he had managed previously.

After more praise of Conn's mercy, the giant strode off through the forest, presumably towards the abbey. Brenden imagined the abbot's reaction upon meeting the latest novice, and smiled. As they rode across the bridge, the Colour Sergeant spoke for them all when he said, "How truly odd." It was the only significant event in their journey to Camelot.