John didn't stop moving again until he came to an old beaten up path that had three forks to choose from. The left path lead out across a swath of farmland while the right hand path bent towards the eastern coast, the center path lead straight into the darkly forested hills to the north.
The paths on the left and the right were very worn down, deep ruts from various vehicles over the years collected puddles of muddy rainwater. The center path was less traveled, tall grass grew as did winding bramble bushes that wound up and around the crooked trees.
John sat down at that fork and thought long and hard about which path to take, if I go to the left I'll be going through all farmland for several miles, and if I go right I'll be on the coast probably near Denarim. The path through the center of the forest will mostly likely be deserted but I don't know how far it goes.
As John sat there, his great tail brushing back and forth across the ground sweeping up dirt and small rocks he smelled it, smoke.
Nose to the wind John could tell it was coming from his right, the path to the coast. Without hesitating any longer he heaved himself to his feet and began trotting down the little lane following his nose.
Within mere minutes he found the source of the smoke, a small dilapidated farm house had caught on fire and was rapidly becoming consumed by the greedy flames.
There were already three fire engines there to fight the fire, but from what John could see of the people standing a little ways away from the blaze there was something badly amiss. One man was clearly pleading with one of the firefighters.
He snuck closer to try to hear what was going on, "...sir, please my daughter is trapped in there with her friend, they should be in the cellar." The man, mid fourties, bald, was clearly pleading with the muscular firefighter.
John had now snuck into the bushes right beside the firefighter and was listening in as the firefighter tried to placate the man, "Sir I'm sorry but we can't risk it that building is about to come down."
John looked toward the building in question and decided since no one could tell him otherwise he would get the children out.
He darted out of the bushes, startling all the people around, and flew past the firefighters straight into the stream of water from the massive hose that they were using to put out the flames. His fur was soaked in seconds, and he headed straight for the growing blaze ignoring the shouts of dismay behind him.
It took only seconds for John get through the flames to the cellar which was miraculously open and only burning a little. He darted down the rickety stairs just before a burning beam smashed down from above. He swung his head back and forth trying to find the children, his eyes felt like they were burning because of the smoke.
He spotted them huddled in the corner crying, in two large leaps he was there protecting them from the beams that were beginning to collapse all around. He pulled both of them under his massive frame with his mouth, careful not to hurt them, and tucked his head down to make sure both of them were completely covered.
John prayed that the children would make it out of this, he didn't want to see more lives lost. The fire raged overhead and beams fell with thunderous crashes all around them, but John stood unflinching through it all. He could feel his fur starting to catch fire when suddenly all he felt was cold wetness.
The roar of the fire was quickly becoming a muted crackle as the firefighters continued to quench the flames. His fur now sagged heavily with water and blood as he waited out the rest of the fire.
John stood steadfast until he heard the firefighters give the all clear for search call, he lifted up his head and let loose a bone chilling howl to tell those outside he was alive.
He heard yells and a group of firefighters soon appeared at the edge the cellar. John stepped to the side to reveal the two terrified children underneath him to those above. Through their masks John could see that just about all of their jaws dropped in shock.
John waited patiently by the children as the firefighters made a safe path to rescue them. Once a ladder had been put down and as the first man came down it John sat down wearily, blood was pooling at his feet from where he had accidently cut his paws on debris.
The man approached slowly and stretched out a hand to take hold of the little girl closest to him when John huffed and pushed her with one of his forelegs towards the man.
The man hoisted the little girl onto his shoulder and carried her to the ladder where others were waiting to rush her out of the wreckage. Once the second girl was removed in the same manner the firefighter slowly approached John with his hands open to either side of him.
John stood up with a grunt and staggered towards the man, his torn paws throbbing painfully. The man had frozen the instant John had moved and nearly jumped out of his skin when John pressed his nose into his open palm and whined just before his legs gave out.
John knew he couldn't make it out of the cellar by himself, he was too injured to do so. The startled firefighter carefully placed an arm under John's forelegs then his other arm under John's hindquarters. The man picked him up and staggered over to the ladder where he shouted for a stretcher that they could put John on.
One of the firemen lowered down a large bright orange stretcher that had multiple safety straps attached to it. John was gently settled onto the stretcher and the man yelled up again, "Davis, let the paramedics know that this fella needs treated too. Jacob, get ready to hoist him."
A team of four firefighters carefully raised John up to the ground level where they quickly carried him out of the smoldering rubble to the waiting paramedics.
John was vaguely aware as they tried to place an oxygen mask over his nose to help him breathe, while one firefighter was examining his paws carefully and another was checking his fur for burns or cuts.
He drifted off for a while, exhausted from his ordeal and having been running for several days on end. When John woke up again he was still on the orange stretcher but now he had a large bright green shock blanket draped over him and there was a group of people clearly discussing what to do with him.
"He saved those children-"
"But we don't know if he's dangerous or not."
"Surely he's not dangerous, I mean, look at what he endured to save those children!"
"You can't tell if he's dangerous or not Davis."
"We don't even know what exactly it is, he's too big to be a wolf."
John raised his head slowly trying to ignore the pounding headache he had, apparently the motion didn't go unnoticed.
"He's awake!" All of the people faced him as he struggled to his aching feet. One of the men came forward, the one who had picked him up originally, "Easy there pal, easy." John shook his head trying to clear the headache forcefully.
All of them took a step back when John gingerly stretched to his full height and yawned, then met the man's gaze to hold it.
"I don't know what you are, or why you did what you did, but those two kids are safe cause of you." The man knelt down on one knee and reached out a hand, "So thank you." John dipped his head down once and leaned into the man's hand to lick it.
John then turned and started to trot away, wincing with each step that brought a cut paw back down on the ground. But he felt it was worth the pain to know that he had saved those children. No one made any move to stop him although several reached towards him before drawing back again.
John slowly made his along the road to the coastal town of Denarim, he wasn't sure what he was going to do but he knew that Denarim was the right place to go. He knew it would take him several days to heal up again before he could run but he knew that he was doing the right thing.
Perhaps being a vigilante is the solution to this whole thing, I have no ties, no obligations to anyone anymore, no reason not to help people the best I can, so why not? Let's see who I can help, and who knows? Maybe this is the reason I'm still alive.