Free The Unwilling Apprentice (Book 2) by Heidi Willard

pulled out his broken stick and it transformed into the staff. The jewel at the end blazed as an emblem of his fury as he hit the roof on which stood one wall of men. The clay roofing tiles crunched beneath Fred's feet, and several of the men turned around. They glared at him, but hesitated to jump him since they weren't sure which side he stood on.
    That gave Fred an opening, so he dashed forward to the closest man. Fred batted the head of his staff into the side of the man's face, which knocked him unconscious and flung him from the roof. The others cried out in fury and jumped him, but Fred stepped back and caught them off balance. He dug his heels into the clay tiles and pushed off into the men with his staff swinging with an accuracy he never remembered having before. Fred bashed heads, butted stomachs, and knocked knees. If they didn't immediately slide off the roof he made sure they were at least unconscious.
    In a few moments his roof was cleared and he had a straight shot at the surrounded roof. Pat and the gargoyle girl stood in the center of their captors, but they weren't defenseless. Pat held a thick wood board, and the end had indents where she'd smashed it into many a hard head. The gargoyle girl had her claws extended from her outstretched hands and her tail behind her cracked like a whip.
    Pat noticed Fred and her eyes showed her relief. "You know, I'm really getting tired of this city," she told him.
    He snorted, and jumped over to stand with his back against hers, and the gargoyle girl completing their little triangle. The gap he'd made on that single roof was closed by more guards, cutting them off from a clean exit. "Better get used to them," he scolded her.
    "Thanks," she grumbled back. One of the men jumped at them and Fred jabbed the butt end of his staff into the man's gut. Their assailant doubled over and Fred pushed him away with his foot. The man slid off the roof and disappeared over the side. "Where did you learn to do that? By fending off gophers in the fields?"
    "Is that how you treat all you rescuers?" he scolded.
    Pat laughed, and gestured at the men who still surrounded them. "You haven't rescued us yet."
    Pat was dangerously correct. As they spoke their captors multiplied in numbers as more people climbed the roofs in search of the monster. The men crowded closer and closer to their roof, but none dared jump over and risk a beating before their comrades followed.
    Fred had only one plan. He grimaced and leaned back to the girls. "Get ready to jump in case this building collapses," he whispered to them.
    Pat's eyes widened and she shot him a terrified look. "What in the world are you-" He raised his staff as he'd done in the cavern. "Fred, don't!"
    Too late. He brought the end of his stick down on the small roof and a shock wave stretched down to the ground. The wave stretched out from defensive wall to defensive wall, and everything shook with the vibrations. The building they were on swayed, but stayed up. That was more than their captors could say as their weight destabilized the roof and caused them to collapse.
    Unlike the previous time Fred had caused the earthquake in the cavern, this time the tremors didn't stop. He lifted his staff off the roof and still the shaking didn't cease. Pat lost her balance and knocked into him. She grabbed his arm and looked up into his face with frightened eyes. "Why isn't it stopping?" she asked him.
    Fred's face was pale and he glanced down in disbelief at the staff in his outstretched, shaking hands. "I-I don't know! I don't know how I even do that!"
    The frenzy of the mob was replaced with the fear of every inhabitant for their lives. The gates were swept open by the multitudes of panicked citizens who stormed them to escape the crumbling walls and houses. With Hawkins at the lead the guards guided the people to the gates as orderly as they could manage.
    Amongst all the confusion and fear, the city was struck with a loud, hard, single vibration. It