Redemption

Summary: Sequel to Hunted. Sofia is returning from a Protector mission and suddenly finds herself surrounded by bandits; amidst the danger, she encounters a wolf with a very familiar presence. *Requested by Mr. Shortman92*

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wolfrik (and other new OCs here) belong to Mr. Shortman92.

A/N: Well, this will be far more lighthearted than Hunted. 😉 My GuardoRing from "Dream Team" will make a brief appearance in here. Also, there's a reference to "Guardian Sorcerer" in here as well. Hope you enjoy!

*Story*

It had been a few months since the whole Wolfrik incident. While it had taken a few days to get Sofia to start communicating more with everyone, she eventually did come around. She was slowly getting back to her old self, though the horrific events with the fallen bounty hunter had left something of a dark spot in her memories. However, whenever her thoughts began wandering back to that day, she quickly forced them into the deepest confines of her mind so that she wouldn't have to deal with the emotions that moment provoked and the negative effect it had on her life.

Currently, she was returning from a Protector mission that Chrysta had assigned to her. After rescuing a stranded unicorn and aiding in sending the magical creature back to the Mystic Isles, she was left to her own devices; therefore, she decided to take a walk in the forest to clear her mind. She wasn't that far from the castle, but she still had a good distance to walk. In truth, she probably should have taken Minimus up on his offer to go with her, but it was too late to worry about that now.

As she moved onward, she heard a snap of a twig from nearby, and she paused to turn sharply to her right, eyes narrowed and alert. Nothing. It was nothing. She sighed and shook off her nerves. "Get a grip, Sofia," she lightly chided herself as she continued walking. A few more paces, and she heard the sound again. She stopped immediately, defaulting to a defensive stance. She formed her right hand into a fist, the Enchantlet tightening around her wrist. If anyone was there to challenge her, she was going to have to take that person (or those people) head-on.

"Would ya look at this, mates?" one man jeered as he stepped out from behind a tree, his left eye patched and his grin proving he'd lost a few teeth somewhere along the way. "Why, if it isn't the wee princess of Enchancia!"

Sofia gasped and looked around, realizing that several men—bandits, it seemed—had surrounded her. "What do you want?" she demanded, her voice never wavering.

"Let's start with that necklace around your neck," another man taunted as he withdrew a dagger from his boot. "Somethin' like that is worth a fortune!"

The princess's hand instantly rose to protect her amulet; meanwhile, her GuardoRing began glimmering…

Cedric was in his workshop, cleaning some of his vials and beakers while Calista chatted to him about her day. He listened attentively, like any good uncle would do, until he noticed that his wand had begun glowing.

"So I told Mummy—" Calista blinked when Cedric suddenly stopped his chore and grabbed his wand. "Uncle Ceddy, is everything all right?"

He frowned at the wand, knowing full well that it usually only glowed for one reason these days. But, just as soon as it had started, it stopped. He blinked, scratching his head.

"Uncle Ceddy?"

"Hmm?" Cedric shrugged as he placed the wand down again. "Must be low on magic or something…" He smiled toward his niece, who watched him curiously. "Remind me to get a tune-up on my wand when we're on our journey next week, Calista."

She grinned. "Sure! So, anyway, like I was saying…"

Back in the forest, Sofia gasped as the men began advancing her, each with some sort of weapon. She held her hands above her head, bracing herself for whatever impact was about to happen. Her eyes were shut tight, blocking out the world around her. However, she heard a sharp snarl and a bunch of startled yells, causing her to open her eyes and see exactly what had interfered.

A large black wolf leaped in front of her, pale green eyes glaring challengingly at the bandits. Seeming to smirk at the frightened men, the wolf lunged at the bandit leader and tackled him to the ground, the animal's teeth mere centimeters from the man's face.

Sofia gaped in awe as a pack of wolves stepped from the brush behind her, stalking toward the whimpering men and eventually chasing them away, their howls and growls heard quite clearly in the distance. She watched as the wolf that had attacked the leader growled angrily at the man before releasing his hold, allowing the man to run away in fear. She wanted to thank this wolf for saving her, but she'd had one rather negative encounter with a wolf in the past, and she wasn't entirely sure she could trust this one—even though it did appear that he had rescued her.

The wolf turned his gaze to the princess, those green eyes capturing her attention—something familiar about them. The scar along the left eye seemed rather familiar as well. And then he spoke… "Are you all right, Princess Sofia?"

She recognized that voice: a voice she'd never believed she'd hear again. Her shaking hands immediately lifted to her lips, a gasp escaping her. "Wolfrik?!" She frowned in confusion, shaking her head in disbelief. "But how? I thought…"

"Let me start by apologizing," he said sincerely, approaching the girl and sitting before her as she lowered to her knees to face him. "I never meant to cause you and the sorcerer so much trouble."

Sofia frowned. "Yes, you did. You were working for Grimtrix, and he'd hired you to destroy Mr. Cedric."

Wolfrik lowered his head. "Let me rephrase that then…" He sighed and glanced up at the princess. "It's true. I was hired to get rid of Cedric the Sensational. It was my job. But you should know that the spell you used against me didn't work quite the way you think it did. I know you aimed to destroy…" He noticed the girl flinch a bit at the word, so he continued, "However… The 'interficio' spell is a bit complicated."

"What are you talking about? Mr. Cedric told me that was the ultimate destruction spell. And after I used it, you were gone."

"Did you know that word not only means to destroy, but also to extract?" He couldn't help the smirk that formed on his face as the girl's blue eyes widened in surprise. "In a sense, Princess, yes… You did destroy me. You destroyed the part of me that was corrupted and apathetic to magical beings… The part of me that rid the world of magic in any form for sport…and for a greater purpose, I must admit."

"Wolfrik, is there a point to this story?" She was growing impatient with his clear avoidance of the main topic.

"Yes, of course. You destroyed the old me, extracted the good part of my soul that remained, and somehow allowed me to take on this new form." He watched as the girl seemed to attempt to come to terms with what he was telling her. "I know it's a lot to take in…"

"You could say that," Sofia responded with a hand to her head.

"I never saw more clearly until after you eliminated my human form… I was the least humane person you could encounter. I recently came to see just how much trouble I'd caused you and your sorcerer friend, along with countless others. To those I destroyed, I wasn't some hero vanquishing them in the name of goodness… I was a monster." He frowned. "Those I hunted were not evil, and even though you and Cedric the Sensational used magic, it wasn't for anything bad."

"Of course not," she agreed. "Why would you come to that conclusion?"

"Please, allow me to explain," he requested with a long sigh. "I actually recently had something of an epiphany." He looked toward her sincerely. "There's a reason I once hated magic so much, Princess…"

My land was not enchanted, nor was it home to anyone who studied magic. In all honesty, none of us even knew what magic was. I was young and had a girlfriend whom I loved very much. The two of us had been together our entire lives, and I believed that would never change.

However, unlike me, she sought adventure…freedom… She told me once that she felt isolated. She knew there were so many things out in the world to try; there were so many new things. But nothing was ever 'new' in our land. Our people were so closed off from the rest of the world, and my girlfriend didn't want to live like that; however, she didn't want to just run away either, since there was no way to tell what could be 'out there.'

Then, one day, a band of gypsies arrived in our humble land, bringing with them all manners of new inventions, and every kind of magic known. My girlfriend was fascinated by all of this, and she soon began spending a great deal of time with their leader: some fancy lad with a traveler's tan and long raven hair that she went on and on about… But I digress.

He began teaching her magic: light and dark… It was all the same to him. It was a means to making one's life easier. You could conjure a feast fit for a king or pull off a robbery without getting caught, and all it would take was a wave of a wand and a few words.

As you can imagine, Princess, she fell in love with this man, and when the time came for the gypsies to move on to the next town, she informed me that she would be going with them. It broke my heart… Once she left, I became something of a law enforcer in my land, and I spent the next decade trying to keep the town as peaceful as it always had been. But, for whatever reason, crime rate continued to rise. In fact, it appeared that more and more criminals were using magic to carry out their wicked deeds.

Among these criminals were a few of my own childhood friends, and even though we had fallen out of touch over the years, I still couldn't imagine them doing something illegal. No one wants to believe that about their friends… Anyway, I couldn't figure out what would drive them to make such poor choices. But then, the band of gypsies returned, and everything changed.

My former girlfriend was with them, but she was not the same woman I remembered. She'd become cold, manipulative, and deceitful. She had traveled the world and seen many wonderful things, and in the meantime, she had become a powerful sorceress.

She informed the people of my land that they could do virtually anything with magic: cure diseases, reverse aging, and even perhaps become immortal. She told them that they could learn to do all these things if they just joined her. I tried to stop her from corrupting the people any further, but she struck me down with a powerful blast of dark magic, which is how I got this scar on my face… It was an attack used with the intent to kill, and it was only by some miracle that I even survived.

When I awoke, I learned that she had left yet again, and she had taken many of my people with her. How could she strike me down without a second thought, after all we'd been through together? I figured that she, along with the criminals I had apprehended, must have been corrupted by magic. Therefore, I set out to rid the world of magic and its evil once and for all.

Sofia had listened intently to Wolfrik's story. She was fascinated by what he had to say, and now she could see his point of view. She didn't agree with his method of approaching the so-called problem, but she could see where he was coming from.

"I'm now trying to protect magical creatures, in order to make up for my mistakes," Wolfrik explained with a slight sigh. "So, I lead my pack across the land, searching for magical creatures in need of help."

The princess raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure you're the same Wolfrik?"

He smiled at her question before feeling a slight nudge to his left side. His smile widened as a lighter female wolf sat next to him. "Ah, Doro… Allow me to introduce you to Princess Sofia. Princess, this is my mate, Doro."

The female wolf gave the girl a kind smile before glancing back to Wolfrik. "I heard everything, love," she admitted. "I didn't actually believe you when you said you used to be human… However, I hadn't heard the full story before."

"And…?" he asked nervously, pawing at the ground anxiously. Clearly, she was trying to process this information and somehow wrap her mind around everything.

"So you really were human at one time… And you used to kill magical creatures?" Her blue eyes stared intently into his.

He lowered his head in shame. "Yes… I was a monster. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

"Wolfrik," she began, placing one paw on his, "I do not care what you did in your past. You are quite literally not the same person anymore. That Wolfrik is long gone, leaving behind the wolf I fell in love with…" She nuzzled him, causing him to hum and smile. "The important thing is that you are now doing what is right. You're exactly who you are supposed to be now."

Sofia nodded in agreement. "She's right, Wolfrik."

The dark wolf stared at the girl thoughtfully. "You know, Princess, you would make a great wolf yourself."

She giggled. "I'm honored, but you know… I'm perfectly fine just being 'Sofia.'"

"As you should be." Wolfrik glanced over his shoulder as he heard his pack returning. He then looked back toward the girl, who was now standing. "It was an honor to get to know you better, Princess Sofia. Perhaps one day, our paths will cross again…" Without waiting for a response, he turned and took off, all the wolves following him.

The princess smiled before finally heading back to the castle. She revealed to Cedric what she'd experienced that day, and to say he was surprised would be an understatement. However, she could tell he seemed relieved that she'd gotten some necessary closure. Closure… Perhaps that's what she'd wanted the whole time. It made sense, didn't it?

That night, Sofia lay in her bed, attempting to sleep. She glanced out the window at the full moon, and to her surprise, she heard two wolves howling in the distance. With a full heart and a sleepy mind, she smiled at the sound before turning over and going to sleep.

The end