Decimate

Chapter Seven--Phil--That's A Big Dog

When I was scared, or nervous, I was completely silent.

Dan however, was not.

He looked up at the beast in front of us and screamed.

It was a huge black dog, which I might have found cute if it wasn't for the overbite and drool.

Then it licked my face.

I wasn't expecting that.

The force of the tongue knocked me over, and it continued to lick, then it stopped suddenly and yelped.

It took a step back to show Dan, who was hitting the creature furiously with a branch.

"Quit it!" A new voice yelled. "You're hurting my dog."

I turned in the direction of the voice to see two figures emerging from the woods.

One of them was skinny and pale, with black hair. He wore all black, and a scabbard for a sword hung at his side.

The other was tan and blonde, with bright blue eyes. He wore an orange tee shirt and jeans. He was smiling widely.

I noticed that Dan had stopped hitting the dog, and was looking at the two.

The pale boy whistled, and the dog bounded over to him. A smile crept onto the boy's face, and he reached up to scratch under her chin.

"Uh, hi," I said. "I'm Phil."

Dan nudged me. "Shut up. They might be unfriendly."

I took a second to process that information, then put a scowl on my face. It felt unnatural.

"I mean, who are you two?"

The blonde grinned even wider. "I'm Will and this is Nico. Nice to meet you Phil and..."

Dan scowled at them, staying silent.

Will giggled. "Aww Nico look, they're like mini-us."

A small smile formed on Nico's lips. "They kind of are."

I couldn't help it. My scowl vanished, and I giggled. It was kind of true.

I glanced over at Dan. His face was red, and he was glaring at them with hatred.

Suddenly a howl rang through the trees.

Will's smile vanished.

"No time to chat!" He yelled, running over and grabbing my wrist.

He pulled me over to the dog.

"Phil!" Dan yelped, running and grabbing my other wrist.

They played tug of war with my arms for a few minutes before Nico wrapped his arms around Dan, pinning his arms to his side.

Dan squirmed, but Nico was older and stronger than him.

Will pushed me onto the dog, and I couldn't help but smile at the softness of it.

Will hopped up behind me, then Dan behind him, and Nico behind him.

"Hold on," Will whispered in my ear.

Nico said something I couldn't hear, and the dog's ears perked up.

It ran into a large shadow in front of us.

I braced for impact with a tree, but felt none.

I was freezing cold for a moment, then felt the breeze again.

I opened my eyes and looked around us.

We had emerged from the shadow of a porch overhang.

I looked below us and saw a smashed table, and cards scattered across the grass.

"Well," said a lazy drawl. "Welcome to camp Half-blood I suppose."