The Tyrant's Tomb

They swarmed—pecking, scratching, croaking with rage.
“I’m sorry!” I screamed, futilely swatting at the birds. “I’m sorry!”
The ravens did not accept my apology. Claws ripped my pant legs. A
beak clamped on to my quiver and almost pulled me off the ladder, leaving
my feet dangling for a terrifying moment.
Reyna continued to slash away. Meg cursed and threw seeds like party
favors from the worst parade float ever. A giant raven spiraled out of control,
covered in daffodils. Another fell like a stone, its stomach bulging in the
shape of a butternut squash.
My grip weakened on the rungs. Blood dripped from my nose, but I
couldn’t spare a moment to wipe it away.
Reyna was right. If we didn’t move, we were dead. And we couldn’t
move.
I scanned the crossbeam above us. If we could just reach it, we’d be able
to stand and use our arms. We’d have a fighting chance to…well, fight.
At the far end of the catwalk, abutting the next support pylon, stood a
large rectangular box like a shipping container. I was surprised I hadn’t
noticed it sooner, but compared to the scale of the tower, the container
seemed small and insignificant, just another wedge of red metal. I had no
idea what such a box was doing up here (A maintenance depot? A storage
shed?) but if we could find a way inside, it might offer us shelter.
“Over there!” I yelled.
Reyna followed my gaze. “If we can reach it…We need to buy time.
Apollo, what repels ravens? Isn’t there something they hate?”
“Worse than me?”
“They don’t like daffodils much,” Meg observed, as another flowerfestooned
bird went into a tailspin.
“We need something to drive them all away,” Reyna said, swinging her
sword again. “Something they’ll hate worse than Apollo.” Her eyes lit up.
“Apollo, sing for them!”
She might as well have kicked me in the face again. “My voice isn’t that
bad!”
“But you’re the—You used to be the god of music, right? If you can
charm a crowd, you should be able to repulse one. Pick a song these birds
will hate!”
Great. Not only had Reyna laughed in my face and busted my nose, now
I was her go-to guy for repulsiveness.