Don't Tread on Me – Metallica

Disclaimer: I do not own Sofia the First or any characters.

Introduction: This story is titled We Remain after the song by Christina Aguilera. Each chapter will have a song title which will give a "feeling" for the chapter I used while writing it. If you'd like you can listen to the songs to hear what I heard while I wrote it or the type of feeling I was going for. Additionally, this is my new story I'll be writing. I just wanted to put this first chapter out here early as a preview but I won't be updating for another week or so because I want to finish up my other story first.

Something's not right. Cedric could feel it like a sixth sense prickling under his skin. Sofia was supposed to have arrived at least a few minutes ago for today's lesson, but she isn't here yet; she's never late. At that moment Cedric heard the horn blast to warn all that the castle had been stormed and was under attack. "Sofia!" He shouted frantically as he grabbed his family wand out of its case and began to run, fear running through his veins for his young apprentice.

As Cedric rounded a corner he stopped when he spotted two men with bloody swords slowly walking down the hall. He quickly ducked behind a potted plant trying to hide, knocking it over in his nervous haste. The two men looked his way before running towards him. Cedric was about to do a transportation spell and get out of there, not wanting to fight them when he spotted something sparkly and purple hiding behind a plant across the hall from him. "Sofia…" He whispered quietly to himself. Thankful she was hidden but now that meant he couldn't just leave her here with these depraved creatures lurking about, he stepped out of hiding to face the men. "Can I help you gentlemen?" Cedric asked sarcastically.

"Yes, we're looking for one more princess. You tell us where she is or you die next." The larger man sneered, showing his evil grin as he stepped closer, aiming his sword towards Cedric's abdomen. At that moment, Cedric's worst fear came true, Sofia jumped out from behind her hiding spot and yelled, "No, don't hurt him!"

"There she is, get her!" Shouted the shorter of the two men. Abandoning Cedric, the man retracted his sword and turned on Sofia. Cedric couldn't let them hurt her; he needed to act fast. Knowing it may traumatize her, but not having much other choice, Cedric pointed his wand and suddenly the two men tripped, impaling themselves on their own swords as they approached Sofia. She screamed as they fell at her feet and their dark, crimson blood oozed around her shoes, staining them. Cedric grabbed her hand and they took off running.

Finding a small space they could conceal themselves in temporarily, Cedric pushed Sofia inside and then himself, pulling a plant in front of the hiding spot. "Sofia, are you hurt at all? Are you okay?" He asked checking her over as best he could in the cramped space. She just nodded, looking as if she was about to go into shock. "Yes you're hurt or yes you're okay?" He asked for clarification. He assumed she wasn't hurt, physically but he couldn't be sure. There was no doubt she would have some lasting emotional traumas if they got through today.

Looking up and staring into his eyes with a pain so deep, Cedric saw a look in her eyes that would haunt him the rest of his days. "Sofia? Sofia, talk to me." He pleaded taking her hands in his. She continued to stare at him blankly.

Sofia opened her mouth and tried to speak but no words would come out. She collapsed and Cedric caught her in his arms. She finally broke down and began to sob. He held her in his arms for a while rocking her back and forth while stroking her hair gently. She kept repeating something but Cedric couldn't understand the words, she was weeping so profusely. As she began to calm he finally asked, "Sofia, dear, what are you trying to tell me?"

"My family…. th-they're… all gone… they're dead. Those men killed… my family. Cedric what am I going to do?" And she began to cry again as she clung to his robes. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest as her words began to sink in. The whole royal family was murdered? Except for Sofia? Now wasn't the time to ask questions. He needed to get Sofia to a safe place, technically she was the new queen, whether she knew it or not. Better not to overwhelm her at the moment.

As she moved, the light caught her amulet and he had an idea. It would work, he had no doubt but would she trust him? "Sofia, do you trust me?" He asked, softly. She looked up at him curiously at the sudden change in his demeanor.

"Of course I do, I trust you with my life Cedric. You're my best friend." She responded, managing to melt his heart a little even in this terrible situation.

"I'm going to ask you something. And I need you to trust me. But only agree to it if you do."

"Okay, what is it?" She asked.

"Sofia, with your amulet, I will have the power to save the kingdom and..." Choosing his next words carefully, he continued, "take care of, those evil men out there killing your family and taking over the castle. I promise to return it when I'm done. But only if you trust me with it." Cedric appealed to her sincerely.

Without hesitating, Sofia reached behind her neck unclasping her necklace and handed it to him. "Cedric, I trust you completely. I know you will do right. Please, do what needs to be done." Sofia replied with tears in her eyes.

Standing up, Cedric reached his hand out for her. "Thank you for your trust and belief in me. And I apologize for what I'm about to do. But I need to send you far away from here where it's safe. I can't bear to have you injured, or worse. I'm going to use a transportation spell to send you away. But I promise I will come for you when it's safe to return. Okay?"

Tears streaming down her face, Sofia embraced Cedric tightly and cried into his robes, "I love you, Cedric." He felt his heart burst with a newfound power: love. "I love you, too Sofia. I will come back for you and I'll keep you safe." He gave her a kiss on the forehead before transporting her away.

So this is what it felt like to fight for love. He was no longer just fighting for himself, his job or a kingdom – he was fighting for someone who loved him. He felt more powerful and fierce than ever. Cedric had his family wand, the amulet and love of a heartbroken child. He was angry and out for vengeance.

Tying the necklace around his neck, not caring how he looked wearing it, he began down the hall, wand in hand. Cedric noticed it began to glow faintly at first until it was so bright it was almost blinding. His body began to tingle and he could feel his power grow stronger as he approached the main throne room. He wasn't sure how he knew the group of thieves and killers were in there but somehow he just knew.

Cedric swung the door open violently and entered. They all stopped and looked at him. He estimated there were about eight men. "What have we here, do you think you're going to come and save the day, too?" One man stepped forward and asked Cedric.

Taking a seat, and appearing nonchalant Cedric replied, "No, I don't think anything. I know I will save the day. I just have one question first."

They all chuckled, as if they were amused, "And what is that?"

"Who attempted to lay a finger on Princess Sofia?" Cedric asked, in a bored tone.

A big, burly man began to laugh and stepped up, displaying his sword. "You appear to have no weapons while we're all well-armed. And you think you can kill us all? Normally we wouldn't answer questions but since you so obviously don't prove to be a threat I don't see why not. The other men are hunting down that last princess that managed to escape when we killed the rest of her family. Damn squirrely one, I would have liked to see her squeal like the rest of them. She sure was a cute one, too. Maybe I should have kept her as my pet instead of trying to kill her. Oh well, too late now."

That did it for Cedric, hearing them talk of Sofia like that sent him over the edge, he knew the amulet was powerful but even he wasn't aware of all its powers. He'd felt the power building slowly but after the man's last comments he suddenly burst and next thing he knew he was letting out a powerful roar of emotional pain as he was shape shifting into a large and powerful purple dragon. The eight men all began screaming and trying to run away from him.

He first lunged for the man who made the comments about Sofia. Cedric stared him in the eyes towering over him watching the fear grow on his face. The cowardly man held his sword above him but dropped it, he was trembling so much. He tried to stand and run but Cedric was faster and knocked him over, he ripped both of his legs off in his powerful jaws and spit them back out ignoring the man's screams of pain. Cedric wanted to make him suffer. He wanted to come back for him after he had to watch the fate of the rest of his men. Now that he was immobile he turned and chased after the others trying to escape, he blew fire at a group of four hiding in the corner, burning them to a crisp instantly. Turning around quickly, Cedric saw three more running for the door. He flew towards them and blocked the exit, they began to stumble backwards trying to apologize. He advanced on them slowly. He took one man by his leg and flung his body across the room crushing his body against the stone wall. The other two began to cry realizing their fate. Cedric picked each of them up one by one flinging them across the room as well, letting their bodies hit the wall falling to the floor.

Once he was done with the men he felt himself begin to calm down and he began to shift back into his human form. He then approached the man on the ground missing his legs. Cedric stood over him with his family wand in his hand. "You've failed to kill Princess Sofia, she is safe and far away from this castle. But you will never have the chance of hurting her. I'm going to make you suffer for the pain and grief you've caused her by killing her family and trying to kill her." Using his wand he began to shoot waves of intense pain into the man's body causing him to scream out and beg for mercy. Finally, Cedric needed to move on with things and just ended the man's life once and for all.

Cedric set out to check the castle and their grounds to see if there were any more men lurking about. After about 15 minutes of checking he came upon two more men who were obviously with the group of criminals. He didn't bother announcing himself. They saw him just as he was lifting his wand and they began to advance on him but it was too late. They fell to the ground instantly dead. After making the two bodies disappear Cedric returned to the throne room to deal with the mess there.

A few minutes later Baileywick came running in and began to scream. "What happened in here? It's a blood bath. And… and… how did they get burned?" He asked, noticing the men in the corner black and charred.

Clearing his throat Cedric held up Sofia's amulet and explained some parts, leaving out others, such as turning into a dragon. "Well, Sofia lent me her amulet to give me the power to save the castle and the kingdom. As you can see, I was successful in overpowering these men."

"Yes, I can see. Quite obviously. Where is Sofia? Is she alive? Is she safe? Is she hurt? Is she okay? Poor child. She must be so distraught." Baileywick began to babble on quite distressed himself with the experiences of the day.

Using his wand, Cedric made the bodies disappear and cleaned up the mess. He then addressed Baileywick, "Let's go elsewhere and talk." Baileywick agreed just to get away from the sight he had just seen.

Together they walked up the tower steps to Cedric's tower and went inside. He set Sofia's amulet down on the table and eyed it carefully, still thinking about the dragon incident. Baileywick began, sounding worried, "So do tell me about Sofia? Where is she? And is she injured at all?"

"I sent her away earlier using a transportation spell and she had not been injured that I could tell, although she was in obvious shock and traumatized and wasn't able to tell me much..." Pausing, Cedric looked towards Baileywick before continuing mournfully, "Other than her family was dead and that I could use her amulet."

"It's true. I wasn't there when it happened but from what I've gathered Sofia witnessed their brutal murders but using magic was able to escape right before..." unable to finish what he was about to say, and looking like he would be physically sick just thinking about it, Baileywick finally carried on because he knew Cedric would need to know what Sofia had gone through. "She was able to escape before they stabbed her with their swords. She has you to thank for that Cedric." He then broke down in tears for the loss of the rest of his beloved family he'd grown to love as his own.

Meanwhile, in a cottage far from Enchancia, an elderly couple was enjoying a nice cup of tea when suddenly a young girl materialized. She appeared to be splattered in blood and sobbing. They realized it was Princess Sofia and rushed to her right as she collapsed to the floor.