Meg - Breaks Out of Cacoon With Seeds

I crouched and scooped up the packet. A quick glance inside told me half a dozen seeds remained. “Now what, Meg?”
“Throw them on the goo,” Meg said.
I gestured to the geraniums bursting from her neck and armpit. “How many seeds did that?”
“One.”
“Then this many will choke you to death. I’ve turned too many people I cared about into flowers, Meg. I won’t—”
“JUST DO IT!”
The ants did not like her tone. They advanced, snapping their mandibles. I shook the geranium seeds over Meg’s cocoon, then nocked my arrow. Killing one ant would do no good if the other three tore us apart, so I chose a different target. I shot the roof of the cavern, just above the ants’ heads.
It was a desperate idea, but I’d had success bringing down buildings with arrows before. In 464 BCE, I caused an earthquake that wiped out most of Sparta by hitting a fault line at the right angle. (I never liked the Spartans much.)
This time, I had less luck. The arrow embedded itself in the packed earth with a dull thunk. The ants took another step forward, acid dripping from their mouths. Behind me, Meg struggled to free herself from her cocoon, which was now covered in a shag carpet of purple flowers.
She needed more time.
Out of ideas, I tugged my Brazilian-flag handkerchief from my neck and waved it like a maniac, trying to channel my inner Paolo.
“BACK, FOUL ANTS!” I yelled. “BRASIL!”
The ants wavered—perhaps because of the bright colors, or my voice, or my sudden insane confidence. While they hesitated, cracks spread across the roof from my arrow’s impact site, and then thousands of tons of earth collapsed on top of the myrmekes.
When the dust cleared, half the room was gone, along with the ants.
I looked at my handkerchief. “I’ll be Styxed. It does have magic power. I can never tell Paolo about this or he’ll be insufferable.”
“Over here!” Meg yelled.
I turned. Another myrmeke was crawling over a pile of carcasses—apparently from a second exit I had failed to notice behind the disgusting food stores.
Before I could think what to do, Meg roared and burst from her cage, spraying geraniums in every direction. She shouted, “My rings!”

***

The Hidden Oracle, Chapter 28