Title: Protector Of The Weak

Author: Jmaria

Rating: PG-13 to R

Disclaimer: Not mine. Joss owns all things BtVS, and somebody else owns K.A.

Spoilers: Season 7, and the movie King Arthur

Summary: Everyone has secrets, causes, dreams, and nightmares

A/N: This story follows the Director's cut of the movie, practically line for line (of course except for those lines concerning Dawn). Which means certain characters will die. Those who have seen the movie know who these characters are. This, as of right now, is a Dawn/Dagonet pairing. I like Dagonet, he's probably my second favorite of all the knights (Tristan being number one in my heart). He's also the only one I have never heard mentioned in the myths and legends (all the others are). For those who haven't seen the movie, this is nothing like the other legends of Arthur. On another note, Merlin is the chieftain of the Woads (the native British people). There are no magic powers in this movie, and women are not warriors, unless they are Woads.
I like Dawn. I've always liked Dawn, and being a younger sister who is often compared to her older sister, I can relate with Dawn.
Once again, I'd like to thank the reviewers. Your support, critiques, and requests for more have given me the motivation to get more out. Who knows, it might even be longer than five chapters.

3. In the Darkness

Dagonet felt dread return to him as they neared Marius Honorius' home. They would collect the Romans and return to freedom. That was the hope, at least. Dagonet had a sickening feeling that he would never return home to Sarmatia. Bors had never planned on him leaving anyhow. He believed they would have rule over Brition once the Romans left. Dag had never thought that far ahead. He never thought he'd live to see that day. He still had doubts if he would.

The warm body in front of him gasped at the Roman home. Dagonet spoke quietly to her.

"You'd do best to keep yourself wrapped in that cloak."

"Why? I mean besides the fact that it's freezing?" Dawn asked.

"Romans do not like seeing ladies in men's clothing." He said simply. His thoughts, however, ran something along the lines of 'the first man who ogles you will be killed'.

"Gotcha." She pulled the hood of her black sweater over her head, covering her hair, and wrapped the cloak tightly around her.

She had an odd way of speaking. He found that rather charming. Dag and Lancelot rode directly behind Arthur, who led them to the hastily shut gates of the Roman villa. Arthur reined in his horse in, the other knights following suit. A guard from atop the outer wall called down to him.

"Who are you?"

"I am Arthur Castus, Commander of the Sarmatian Knights, sent by Bishop Germanius of Rome." He said in a very commanding voice. "Open the gate."

There was silence from the gate wall. They attracted quite the crowd, and peasants left off working to gather in closely around the knights. Dagonet's horse became impatient.

"Keep your head down, lady. Do not attract the eyes of the Romans." He murmured.

Dawn felt her heartbeat flutter in excitement. She kept her head down as he told her to, but found she couldn't keep her gaze in one place. Which had been his hands for most of the ride, and he had really nice hands. Big, nice hands. Which made her think of the old addage: big hands, big feet, big -. That was when she adverted her eyes. Bad Dawnie.
The first thing she saw was the weird little addition someone had made to the side of the gate wall. The bricks were different than the others. Why would someone do that? It messed up the whole - Ok, it was official. She needed to stop hanging around Xander when he was in rare form about construction.

The second thing she noticed was the weird animal hanging on the spit across the way. She squinted to get a better look at what it was, but the gates were opening, and she shifted her gaze back to them.

"It is a wonder you have come." A short, fat Roman noble boomed, making his way through the gate. He was heavily surrounded by guards. "Good Jesus." He clapped his hands together, "Arthur and his knights."

He made to pet Galahad's horse. Galahad backed away, not wanting the Roman to touch his horse. Marius gave a small laugh and turned his attention back to Arthur.

"You have fought the Woads. Vile creatures." He said this while smiling.

It struck Dawn as odd. The way he held himself. She shivered against Dagonet. Marius reminded her of - who did he remind her of? She thought hard on it for a second. He seemed to be a goofy man who knew things; important things, evil things. She looked back over at addition. Only one name came to mind in her head.

"Doc." She whispered.

"Our Orders are to evacuate you immediately." Arthur said. Marius looked around behind himself before turning back to Arthur with a nervous laugh.
"But that . . .that is impossible."

"Which is Alecto?" Arthur looked around to find the boy they were after.
"I am Alecto." A voice rang out from atop the wall.

Dawn looked up to see a boy maybe three or four years younger than her standing beside a Roman woman. They came all this way for a teenager? Why?

"Alecto is my son." All friendliness disappeared from Marius' face. "And everything we have is here in the land given to use by the Pope of Rome."

"Well, you're about to give it to the Saxons." Lancelot said, speaking harshly. Apparently, he like this guy as much as Dawn did.

"They're invading from the North." Arthur added. Fear came into Marius' eyes. Followed closely by indignation.

"Then Rome will send an Army." He said defiantly.

"They have. Us." Arthur replied. "We leave as soon as you're packed."

"I refuse to leave." Marius said quietly.

There was a heavy silence in the air, and even as Marius spoke, his family came through the gates. No one moved, and the knights exchanged heavy looks.

"Go back to work! All of you!" Marius shouted.

The guards started shouting similar orders, and dispersed through the crowd. They shoved the peasants roughly. Dawn felt anger begin to bubble through her blood. Was this guy a complete jackass? Didn't he know the Saxons were not to be messed with? They were notoriously blood-thirsty and tended to wipe out weaker people. Did the idiot think they would pause at killing a fat Roman?

Arthur watched, his own anger rising at this sight. He dismounted and strode quickly over to Marius. The coward stepped back. Dawn snickered to herself. You never did that.

"If I fail to bring you and your son back, my men can never leave this land." He paused for only a second, his voice becoming deadlier by the syllable. "So you're coming with me if I have to tie you to my horse and drag you all the way to Hadrian's Wall myself." He paused, calmed his voice. "My lord. Lady, my knights are hungry."

Marius' wife said nothing. She gave Marius a questioning look, and touched her hand to his forearm. He turned to her.

"Go." She quickly made her way back through the gate. Marius held Arthur's gaze for a moment longer, before turning to follow his wife. "Come!"

Arthur looked over at the addition Dawn had noticed earlier. It must have struck him as odd as well. Although Dawn didn't really think it had anything to do with the construction style for him. He turned back to the knights.

"Come. Let us go, hm?" Bors said, gesturing. Dawn was surprised as how soft he could make his voice. She certainly hadn't been expecting that from the gruff looking man.

Arthur noticed the spit with the weird meat on it. He gritted his teeth and pulled the sword from his saddle. He took long, measured steps over to it. Several of the knights sighed heavily. Bors sighed, and quickly drew his own sword. Dagonet was silent. Dawn watched, curious as to what he was doing. One of the peasants came alongside him and began chattering.

"Sir, you're famous. You're Arthur, aren't you?" When Arthur didn't answer him, he continued. "I'm Ganis. I'm a good fighter and I'm smart. I'd serve you proudly."

Bors got down from his horse as well, making to follow Arthur. He hadn't gotten far when a heavily accented man in brown monk robed grabbed his arm.

"Are you from Rome?" He asked. Bors stared coldly into his eyes

"From hell." He said gruffly. The monk backed away, eyeing the other knights cautiously. That couldn't be good.

"Sir." Ganis tried again.

"Who is this man?" Arthur demanded. Dawn's head whirled around. That was a person?
"He's our village elder." Ganis replied.

"What is this punishment for?" He asked. When there was no reply he yelled, "Answer me!"

"He defied our master, Marius." Ganis supplied, pointing at the Villa. "Most of the food we grow is sent out by sea to be sold. He asked that we keep a little more for ourselves, that's all." He paused, his voice rising angrily. "My ass has been snappin' at the grass I'm so hungry! You're from Rome. Is it true that Marius is a spokesman for God and that it's a sin to defy him?"

Oh yeah, this Marius guy was definitely of the evil variety. Dawn had the strongest urge to drop kick the man. Add that as another reason she hated Rome. Dawn saw Alecto in the crowd watching Arthur's reaction. What would he say to this? Dawn had no idea what kind of man the real Arthur was. He could totally agree with Marius. Arthur looked at the hanging man and turned back to Ganis, Excalibur pointed at him.

"I tell you now." Ganis stepped back, but Arthur continued. "Marius is not of God. And you, all of you, were free from your first breath!" He shouted. With that, he hefted the sword and cut through the chains that held the poor man up.

The crowd gasped and jumped back. Dawn felt her jaw drop. So Arthur's valor and honor wasn't all made up. She felt a silly twinge of pride at that. Buffy would like this guy. Too bad he was dead in her time.

"Help this man." He ordered. When no one moved, he yelled louder. "Help him!"

Several villagers stepped forward, helping the man to his feet. Arthur turned his attention back to the crowd of villagers.

"Now hear me. A vast and terrible army is coming this way. They will show no mercy, spare no one. Those of you who are able should gather your things and begin to move south towards Hadrian's Wall. Those unable shall come with us. You," He turned to Ganis, "Serve me now. Get these people ready." Arthur strode past Alecto, making his way back to the knights.

"Right, you heard him. You go grab enough food and water for the journey. Let's get a hurry on, else we're all dead!" Ganis yelled.

Dawn slipped off the horse with Dagonet's help. Her legs welcomed the stretch. It had been nearly an hour since Arthur's speech. She couldn't help staring at that little lean-to of a building. There was something wrong in there, she was sure of it. It felt - evil.

Dagonet watched Dawn's gaze, followed it with his own. He moved to stand behind her. She must have felt his presence, and turned to meet him. He noticed her hand straying to her sword. He held a hand to his heart.

"Sorry, I'm a little jumpy." She sighed, looking over her shoulder at the building. The monks from earlier were bricking up the doorway. What could need such precautions at this time? Better question, was what were they sealing inside of it?

"Precaution is necessary." He replied.

She looked up at him. He was a tall man. One of the tallest knights in fact. She studied his face for a moment. He had a long scar that ran from just below his left eye to the middle of his cheek. He wasn't a pretty boy, but he was good looking. He had an honest face, and was pretty hot when he smiled. Dawn smiled up at him.

"How'd you get that?" She asked.

"Battle." His face became blank and cold.

"Someone die because of it?" She prodded gently.

"A fellow knight." Dagonet knew he shouldn't be speaking of such things he'd long buried.

"I've got a couple of scars like that." She faintly rubbed at her abdomen. Dawn remembered that day so vividly. It was painful to remember, even now that Buffy was alive again and had been for nearly five years. "Everybody has scars. Some are just harder to see." She tilted her head up at him. "Makes you look -"

"Fierce, frightening?" Dagonet murmured softly.

"Nope. Distinguished. Handsome. Hot." She smirked. Was she really flirting with him? Dagonet looked at her oddly. Maybe he was thinking the same thing.

The guards shouted more orders at monks, drawing her attention back to them. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"What is it?" Dagonet asked.

"There's something - wrong with that. Marius' is up to something, and if I know his type, it's not a good thing." She murmured. "Whatever it is, it's evil. And I really hate evil."

Tristan halted his horse in front of Arthur's and began giving his report.

"They have flanked us to the east. They're coming form the south, trying to cut off our escape. They'll be here before nightfall." He said, catching his breath.

"How many?" Arthur asked.

"An entire army." Tristan replied.

"And the only way out is to the south?" Tristan shook his head.

"East. There is a trail heading east across the mountains. It means we have to cross behind Saxon lines, but that's the one we should take."

Tristan glanced around at the busy village, taking in the sight of it before turning back to Arthur.

"Arthur, who are all these people?"

"They're coming with us." Tristan gave a small, disbelieving laugh.

"Then we'll never make it."

Distant drums sounded off in the distance. They warned of the Saxon threat, and the air was heavy with fear. Dagonet helped Dawn back onto his horse and joined her atop it. The rest of the knights started at the sound. The villagers paused in their work. Even the monks stopped to listen.

"Come on, get back to work!" The guards yelled at them.

This caught Arthur's attention. He stared at them for a few seconds before drawing Excalibur and dismounting. He made his way across the grass, snow lightly falling around him, his red cloak billowing in the wind. The guards approached him, hoping to stop him. Obviously they hadn't seen the little performance earlier, Dawn thought. The other knights flanked him.

"Move." They started backing away. "Move." His voice got louder. "Move!" He shouted.

Arthur turned his attention to the monks. They finally paused in their work, dropping the stones to the ground.

"What is this?" He gestured to the door.

"You cannot go in there." The monk answered, stepping forward. "No one goes in there. This place is forbidden." Arthur moved them aside with his sword.

"What are you doing? Stop this!" Marius cried, striding forward, only to be blocked by Bors. Arthur touched the stones.

"Arthur, we have no time." Lancelot said.
"Do you not hear the drums?" Galahad questioned.

Arthur paid them no heed and turned to face his knights. He sought out Dagonet's face.

"Dagonet." He gestured to the doorway.

Dagonet lifted himself from the saddle, as to not knock Dawn off as well. He took his axe from the saddle and made his way to the doorway. With three powerful strokes, most of the stones were now in a pile of rubble. He kicked at the bolt. Dawn slipped off the saddle once more. Arthur turned to the guards.

"Key." Dawn's eyes went wide for a second, before she realized he wasn't talking to her.

"It is locked. From the inside." The guard replied. Arthur nodded to Dagonet, who took his axe to the door itself, finally kicking it open.

Lancelot dismounted his horse, drawing one of his blades. Arthur took the torch from the wall beside the door and gestured inward with it. He made his way forward, with Dagonet behind him. Gawain came behind the two monks.

"You, you . . Go" When they whimpered, he shoved them forward. "Move!"

Dawn slipped in behind them. The other knights were too busy to notice her, as they moved their horses to guard the doors. Arthur, Dagonet, Lancelot, the monks, Gawain, and Dawn made their way down the dark tunnel. It smelled of decay and musty water. She drew the sword from her side. It could be a master vampire or a demon down there. They liked these creepy kind of places in her time, logically they would in this time.

"Gawain." Lancelot said, handing him another torch.

There was chanting wafting it's way up a circular stone staircase. It was a Latin prayer. As they exited the staircase, a lanky, greasy, balding monk intercepted them.

"Who are these defilers of the Lord's temple?" He demanded, snarling at them. Ok, so he wasn't a vampire. Didn't mean he wasn't a demon.

"Out of the way." Lancelot advanced on him, shoving him back into the room he'd exited.

Lancelot entered the room, slowly taking it in. Arthur knelt at the closest cage. Inside of it was the long-dead body of a man. Lancelot turned to face him.

"The work of your god." He said, nodding his head. "Is this how he answers your prayers?"

"See if there's any still alive." Arthur said to the other knights.

Dagonet made his way over to a small ledge with circular cages shut down. Arthur peered into more of the wall cages. Dawn felt her stomach rumble at the smell and anger build up at the fact that these people had been tortured to death. Lancelot broke the chains on the first cage, and peered down into it.

"How dare you set foot in this holy place?" The monk from outside yelled, pulling on Lancelot. He reared up and slammed his sword into the monks stomach. Dawn flinched at the sight of this. She'd killed demons and vampires before, but never humans, and never that savagely. Her pity for the monk didn't last very long.

"There was a man of God." The greasy one admonished.

"Not my god!" Lancelot yelled.

Dagonet opened the first two cages, but it was no use. They were both dead. Arthur called back to the men.

"This one's dead."

"By this smell, they are all dead." Gawain replied, stepping forward. He turned back to the remaining monks. "And you. You even move, you join him." He gestured to the dead monk on the floor.

Dagonet's third cage held a small blond haired boy. He was no more than eight and looked completely frightened.

"Arthur!" He hefted the child out and placed him on the ledge. The boy backed away skittishly. Dagonet leaned forward. "You must not fear me." He said. The boy looked back at the chamber he'd been trapped in, as if he couldn't believe he was free.

Dawn's eyes widened in anger. He was just a little boy! How could someone have put him in this hell hole? She advanced on the monks, who backed away from her slightly. She knew there was a reason she hated men of the cloth. Before she'd thought it was just Caleb, but these assholes were just as sadistic as he had been.

"He's just a little boy! How could you do that to him?" She spat at them. Dagonet turned to her then.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded. "Get out of here."

"You sadistic pricks." She muttered, advancing on them.

"Gawain." Dagonet called, motioning to her.

Lancelot and Arthur inspected the last cage. Inside a young woman sat huddled in a corner. Arthur handed Lancelot the torch and broke the lock open with Excalibur. Gawain pulled her away from them just as Lancelot led Arthur up the stairs. In his arms was the woman. The torch was doused as they passed through the doorway.

"Water! Give me some water!" Arthur yelled to his knights as he set her on the ground.

Dagonet followed with the boy in his arms. Gawain followed with the monks in front of him and a seething Dawn behind him. Horton raced over to Arthur first, handing him a water skin. He then moved on to the boy. The girl choked on the first sips of water, having been so long deprived of it. The wife of Marius made her way over to help. Dagonet helped the boy drink. Horton stared at his arm.

"His arm is broken." He murmured. "And his family?" He asked Dagonet. The man only shook his head.

Tristan sheathed his sword after looking at the girl, and spoke.

"She's a Woad."

"I'm a Roman officer." Arthur said to the girl. "You're safe now. You're safe."

"Stop what you are doing!" Marius yelled.

"What is this madness?" Arthur demanded, rising to his feet.

"They are all pagans here!"

"So are we." Galahad retorted.

"They refuse to do the task God has set for them! They must die as an example!"

"As if that isn't the biggest load of insane troll-logic I've ever heard!" Dawn cried, forgetting herself and where she was for a moment. It didn't matter, as Arthur went on yelling at the same time.

"You mean they refused to be your serfs!"

"You are a Roman. You understand. And you are a Christian." He turned to his wife. "You! You kept her alive!" He struck his wife hard across the face.

That was the last straw. Arthur turned to the man and punched him hard in the face. About damn time, Dawn thought. The Roman fell backwards as Arthur reached for Excalibur. One of the soldiers yelled out to Marius.

"My lord!" They cried as they raced to help him.

"No! No, stop!" He yelled to them. He spoke to Arthur next. "When we get to the wall you will be punished for this heresy." He threatened. Arthur grabbed him by his tunic.

"Perhaps I should kill you now and seal my fate."

"I was willing to die with them." The greasy monk spoke. Dawn had had enough. She hit him hard across the cheek. The stupid man fell to the ground, but that didn't shut him up. "Yes, to lead them to their rightful place. It is God's wish that these sinners be sacrificed. Only the can their souls be saved."

"You don't know the meaning of 'shut the hell up' do you?" She gritted through her teeth. "That punch was meant to get that though your thick sadistic skull."

Arthur stared at the man with all sincerity as he spoke. "Then I shall grant his wish." He turned to the villagers. "Wall them back up."

"Arthur." Tristan said, leaning forward on his horse.

"I said wall them up!" He shouted.

"Don't you see it is the will of God that these sinners be sacrificed?" The monk whined at Arthur. The villagers moved forward, shoving him back. "Unhand me, defil. . .They're sinners!"

"Get in there!"

Dagonet motioned to Dawn as he carried the boy to the cart. The woman was also loaded into it, along with the wife of Marius. Dawn climbed in the back and sat beside Dagonet and the boy.

"Do you know anything about healing, lady?" He asked.

"If you mean can I splint broken bones, then yeah. Half a year of field training." She muttered, thinking back to the very overcrowded house in Sunnydale.

"You should not have gone down there." He said quietly.

"Trust me, I've seen worse." She looked down at the little boy. "Well, maybe not as horrific as this."

"You should not have hit that man."

"That wasn't a man, Dagonet." She looked into his eyes. "He stopped being a man a long time ago."

A/N: Seems as a good a place to stop as any. This is the longest chapter I think I've written to date. 10 pages. my fingers hurt. This is going to be at least six or seven chapters long. . .too much stuff to cram into five chapters. How am I doing so far?