A/N - I own none of these characters, I believe history has the property rights. Anyway, I have seen the movie twice and also read the novelization so I think I have a pretty good understanding of the material. This story takes place before the movie, so no Guinevere or any romance of any kind. There is an extra knight in this story named Narian, but you can mostly ignore him. He doesn't speak because he has no tongue and doesn't do much, I just thought there should be more than seven of them since it's pre-movie.

Just so you know, I'm a big Lancelot fan so he takes up the brunt of the story, although I also have a soft spot for Tristan and Galahad.

Rating - PG-13, there's violence and some cussing from our dear knights. Drama, h/c, action/adventure

Summary - Pre-movie, Arthur and his knights work to stop a band of thieves by setting a trap with Lancelot as the bait. But when things go wrong in battle, the hardest thing proves to be getting home alive.

Different Fields of Battle

By Goody

"Arthur, this is possibly the most boring plan you have ever come up with, I have barely moved in hours. I cannot take this anymore, I am getting out," Lancelot was clearly resolute in his decision and pulled back the wagon's curtain, intent on leaving. Riding alongside on horseback Arthur stopped him forcefully and tried to push him back inside the coach but the knight would not budge from the doorway.

"You cannot force me into this dreary cabin, I will kill you first, and you know I can," Lancelot added when Arthur would not relent.

"Peace Lancelot, it will not be much longer; we entered the mercenaries' territory over an hour ago, we're bound to be attacked soon. Just sit in your grand chariot and enjoy the ride," Arthur instructed but Lancelot was clearly not pleased, he was practically twitching from so much inactivity.

"I tried that for the first two days. If these pillagers do not arrive soon I shall have to start cutting friendly throats just to keep awake," Lancelot said. Arthur smiled, amused that his friend was practically whining.

"You agreed to be the bait, therefore you must sit in the coach alone looking pompous and defenceless. That is the way of a Roman commander."

"I think I would make perfectly fine bait on horseback," Lancelot pointed out, once more attempting to leave the wagon. Arthur pushed him back again, this time with his heel. Lancelot cursed him. "And just to be clear, I did not agree to anything. All of you conspired against me and forced me into this position. And may you rot in hell for it."

Arthur chuckled for it was true that he had been forced into being the bait in their trap to catch the mercenaries that were robbing Roman transports and attacking villages. The night before they were set to leave Bors and Gawain had decided to force Lancelot to take the coach by hiding his horse, thus leaving him with no way to travel, and it had worked quite well. Even Arthur did not know where the horse now was and Lancelot had no other choice but to act out the position of a Roman high chief in their ruse and ride in the wagon.

Lancelot tapped his fingers impatiently against his sword hilt, "My talents are wasted here, you know that. I would serve best at the front of the line, repelling assaults. Someone has to keep the rest of you fools alive."

"Tristan and Galahad will be quite fine without you," Arthur pointed out. "Consider this though, when the thieves do attack us if they believe you to be a Roman legionnaire you will undoubtedly be engaged first and most often in the battle."

Lancelot crossed his arms, hardly satisfied, and mumbled, "But until then I am forced to sit by, idly. Why must I be the bait anyhow?"

Bors, having heard their bickering, also rode up alongside the coach and replied, "Because you're the prettiest."

Gawain laughed from the driver's seat above. Lancelot punched the ceiling and told him to be quiet.

Arthur laughed as well. "Come Lancelot, as fearless as our knights may be, you know you are the only one with any hope of passing as a Roman commander."

The handsome, brown eyed knight knew it was true, most of the others would need several bathings, haircuts, and a complete change in personality to even come close to passing as an arrogant Roman of any high position, but that did not include their leader.

"So why aren't you the bait, our dear Roman captain?" Lancelot asked.

Arthur shrugged, "Someone has to keep you from getting killed." Then he sent his horse spurring forward, ending the conversation. Bors laughed at Lancelot's anger and then moved off as well, back on alert for any signs of the mercenaries they were supposed to stop.

The knights had received the news a week ago about the group of thieves and outlaws that had banded together and now spent their days attacking, killing and stealing everything they came across; this included villages, outposts and any transports that were not under the heaviest guard. Several important people had been killed, and highly valued items stolen so as always, Rome had turned to the knights to solve this problem for them. They were to find the mercenaries by any means necessary and dispose of them, either through death or incarceration, though imprisonment to the Romans was as good as death as the knights knew all too well.

But they had accepted the mission and planned the trap they were now instituting. Word had been spread that a high-powered Roman commander would be travelling with large sums of money and little protection so as not to draw attention and would pass directly through the area the mercenaries frequented most. They could not be sure that the news had reached the thieves but they set out with the plan in any case, eager for battle and putting an end to their carnage. Lancelot, as the Roman chief, now sat in the ornate wagon, bored but prepared for battle, Gawain drove the horses, his own weapons hidden beneath his seat. Galahad and Tristan rode at the front of the line, with Arthur and Bors on either side of the carriage and Dagonet and Narain at the back. With only six guards, the wagon would appear as an easy target to the thieves, but it would take a great force to overcome the eight Sarmation knights that truly defended it.

All the knights were on high alert as they travelled. Since they were unsure of the number or skill of their enemy they knew it was best to be cautious; if the thieves had greater numbers than had been guessed by the Romans this mission could quickly turn ill, and if they had any skill with a blade whatsoever it could go even worse.

As the other knights sat at full alert, inspecting the trees and horizon, Lancelot sat isolated and bored in his little cabin. He had sharpened his blades as many times as he thought they could endure and his inactivity only increased his longing to use them. He did not kill for pleasure, but the sooner these mercenaries showed up the sooner they could die in self-defence, he thought with a grin. Leaning back with a sigh, Lancelot closed his eyes and listened to the world outside, as he had done throughout this entire, tiresome journey. The wind was blowing, rustling the leaves, the wheels of the wagon clicked as they turned, the horses' hooves all dropped rhythmically, and then a new sound - Tristan's eagle called from the sky. No sooner had the cry gone out then an arrow appeared inside the cabin, lodging itself in the wall not an inch from Lancelot's head.

The knight turned and smiled, strapping on his swords. His friends were shouting battle cries outside and more arrows struck the wagon.

"Finally," Lancelot exclaimed, then jumped from the cabin and joined the battle he had been waiting for.

The mercenaries were vicious. They charged head on, fearing no sword or arrow. Few of them had any considerable skill with a blade and relied on brute strength in battle, which they had in abundance. Fortunately Arthur's knights had both skill and power, and though they were outnumbered more than eight to one, they were all confident they would leave the battlefield the victors.

Leaving the wagon, Lancelot found that their enemy was attacking from the northern side of the road, and only their arrows had yet reached them. Seeing this, the knight took a moment to stretch and flex his hands as they gripped his two blades. Gawain and Bors had also dismounted, preferring ground hand to hand combat, Arthur, Galahad, Dagonet, and Narain were charging forward on their horses, with Tristan only slightly behind, steering with his knees and firing arrows with deadly precision into the crowd of outlaws that were emerging from the treeline.

Several of the mercenaries were dropped by the onslaught of arrows but the main force continued forward and soon joined the knights in battle.

Those on horseback split into two groups. Galahad and Arthur stayed close to one another, hacking at men with their swords or sometimes using the strength and size of their horses to trample their enemy down. Dagonet and Narain took up a charging pattern, running through the line of men and then doubling back and striking once more, their steeds moving gracefully through the lines as the thieves fell like practice targets. Tristan stayed back and in the middle of the four horsemen, picking off any attackers his comrades may miss.

On the ground Gawain, Bors, and Lancelot were surrounded by the cutthroats. Standing where they were, it appeared to the thieves that they were guarding the wagon, and any man that chanced to pass by one of the knights' blades alive immediately jumped atop the coach, searching it for the gold and precious jewels they had been told would be there.

Gawain and Bors rushed into the center of the men, slashing in wide arcs to take out as many adversaries as possible. Beneath Gawain's blade many men were separated from their heads, while the more unfortunate lost an arm or leg, a much slower yet just as sure death. Bors had attached his arm blades which turned every stroke of his hand into a lethal blow; these weapons did not so much hack off limbs as much as tear a body to shreds - he mostly used them to rip through the torso of his enemies, or perhaps cut their throats.

Lancelot spun his two short swords with practiced ease. Though a few men attacked him head on, he spent a greater deal of time fighting back the rows of thieves that tried to commandeer the wagon, thinking it to be filled with treasures. There was no such cargo of course, but Lancelot knew they could not spare the horses, and the wagon did not belong to them either, so he supposed they should return it. As he parried and sliced into another man that was trying to drive the horses away, three mercenaries ran to the coach and pulled open the curtain, peering inside.

"Where's the Roman commander?" one asked when they found the cabin empty.

Lancelot jumped down from the coach.

"Right here," he announced, swinging his blades into a defensive position once more. The first two men rushed at him, their single blades each clanging against one of his own. He spent a moment toying with the two, pushing them forward and then backing away, all the while out-maneuvering their sword play. Then, as he realized more arrows now flew through the air and he had best watch out, he skewered both men at the same time and then turned to find a new battle even before their lifeless bodies hit the ground. He did not see the third man who had retreated back to the treeline.

The rest of the knights noticed the increased numbers of arrows now soaring through the air as well, and knew they did not come from Tristan's bow. Those still on horseback pulled out their shields for protection, while those fighting on the ground ensured their enemies were always at their front, blocking them from any coming arrows.

With his arm blades Bors cut two quick, fatal slices across the midsection of his opponent then spotted arrows coming at him from the treeline. He grabbed the man closest to him in a fierce chokehold and held him in front of his own body, chuckling when three arrows lodged into the mercenary's chest. Throwing the now dead body back to the ground, he waved to the treeline at the archers, "Nice shots!"

Arthur fought off all the men around him and looked to find the source of the arrows. They were emerging from the trees, their archers unseen in the branches.

"Tristan, the archers are there. Can you strike them?" Arthur shouted to the scout as he pointed to the treetops.

Tristan did not reply, only notched another arrow in his bow and fired. A dead archer fell from the nearest tree. Arthur smiled and Tristan appeared satisfied.

"How could I have doubted?" Arthur said as he rode off again when more mercenaries appeared from the forest. Excalibur continued to easily cut through air and flesh, and as Arthur passed he sent the head of a thief flying while the rest of his body slumped to the ground.

A man who had lost his sword in the battle ran toward Dagonet and jumped on the back of his horse, trying for a choke hold on the knight's neck. Dagonet was more annoyed than threatened and pulled to the left and sent the thief flying to the ground, then trampled him with his horse and moved on.

Lancelot had cleared away most of the men around the coach and they all now lay on the ground, dead or dying. Looking across the field he checked the status of his friends and smiled to see them all still fighting. The smile faded when he saw Galahad exchanging blows with two men on the ground, unaware of the other coming from behind. Yelling would be useless, for Galahad was deaf in battle, so Lancelot hefted his short sword and threw it the twenty yards it needed to reach. He smiled when the man dropped dead and Galahad turned, having disposed of the others, just in time to see him fall as well. The two knights smiled and nodded in acknowledgement of the act, but just as Lancelot was about to return to the fight he stumbled back three steps and the smile vanished from Galahad's face as he watched.

Breathing was suddenly difficult and Lancelot looked down to see an arrow shaft protruding from his abdomen. The pain and shock sent him to his knees where he stayed, focussing only on pulling air into his lungs.

TBC

More coming soon. The next chapter is finished but needs tweaking and I have to post at the library for now so it may be a few days. Hope you all enjoyed. Goody