John

The former Authorities' former meeting room(and I had a feeling we'd get a lot more 'former' things by the time this mess was over, however that happened) was several stories above street level. As such, the frailer members of our impromptu band of heroes couldn't just jump through the hole the Walking Man had made, unless we wanted to crawl our way to the fighting monsters.

Hadleigh took care of that. He seemed to turn sideways, then spun, again and again, until reality began to tremble around him. I briefly felt dizzy, then nauseous, then realized I wasn't falling, like my brain was telling me. I was already on the street, alongside Suzie, Walker, and the younger Oblivion brothers. The others quickly made their way down as well, trusting in their powers or superhuman bodies.

We had jumped into Hell, or something like it.

In the old stories, Lilith is often a mother of monsters. After she is banished from Eden, she goes down into Hell and lays with demons, giving birth to unnatural creatures. Like the ones tearing apart the Nightside's streets and buildings, or slaughtering people maddened by the echoes of the Authorities' death throes.

I suppose we were half-siblings, which was an un unsettling thought. I knew there was a reason I never went to family reunions, besides having none.

They looked like every nightmare you've ever had, like every monster you thought was under your bed. There were giant, segmented maggots with disturbingly human hands sprouting from their sides. There were flying, dessicated whales, jagged ribs bursting through their rotten flesh and moving them through the air like oars, or wings. There were things like insects and lizards and deep sea fish.

And there were too many for us to kill and still help the Walking Man beat Lilith. So, I figured it was time to call in an old favour.

'Razor Eddie! I know you're listening! Show yourself!'

Usually, the punk god of the straigh razor appeared in a flash of eye-watering speed(and smell). This time, Razor Eddie chose a different way to make his entrance. The shining blade of his pearl-handled namesake seemed to poke out of thin air. Then, it moved like it was outlining a door. Reality opened like a door, and Razor Eddie stepped through, the door closing behind him.

He'd been busy, I could tell. His clothes, always filthy and unkempt, were covered in viscera and something I would only hesitatingly call blood.

'Why did you stop me, John?' He asked quietly, swinging his razor around like he was waiting for a target. 'Someone must defend the city since the Nightguard went mad. If every Nightsider let loose, they'd raze the city far faster than the monsters could ever manage. Not everyone kept their minds together, you know. I've had to put several friends down.'

If the loss of those friends saddened Eddie, he showed no sign. I raised an eyebrow at his razor. He'd never done the door trick before.

'I went back to the Street of the Gods. Got an upgrade,' he answered my unspoken question.

'Mad? All of them?' Jason asked. Eddie turned to him, and nodded.

'I'm sorry, Captain. I've had to put down several of your troops, too.' Then, he turned back to me. 'What do you want, John? You're keeping me from my work. That always ends poorly. For everyone.'

'You're targeting the symptoms, not the disease,' I said, as reasonably as I could. I didn't want him to start threatening me. 'Lilith is the root of the problem. If we get rid of her, the monsters will follow. I can feel it.'

Eddie tilted his head, not quite nodding, and swept his gaze over us. It lingered a little on Hadleigh.

'No. None of us can hope to kill her, even if she let us try,' Razor Eddie said finally. Then, to Hadleigh. 'Where's the Wandering Jew? I could swear he was following you around.'

'He had to take care of something. I saw no need to stop him, or mention his absence.'

That was when I realised Jude was missing. Belatedly, of course. I may have been allergic to finding clues, but my senses weren't usually so dull. Or maybe the little man was just that good at blending in the background.

That was when it all clicked together:the name he'd asked me to use, the Unholy Grail, the desire to find it, or some new angels, almost like he was trying to make up for past wrongs. It seems even the greatest sinners could feel guilt.

'He can do it in his own time,' Walker said. 'Eddie, I want you to remain in the group. I've just experienced how useless I would be in a fight against Lilith, and I think I could do more elsewhere.'

'Fucking off and leaving us hanging?' Stark growled. He was smoking two of his black cigarettes at once, and I was surprised they didn't snap with how tightly his jaw was clenched.

Walker smiled drily at him. 'Hardly. There are things in the city my Voice would actually work on. For example...' He trailed off, looking at the monsters around us. I was almost surprised they hadn't approached us, despite the gathering of power. 'DO NO MORE DAMAGE TO THE NIGHTSIDE OR ITS DENIZENS. DESTROY LILITH.'

The monsters didn't obey Walker's thunderous Voice. However, they did stop their destruction, if only because they were staggering in confusion, like their brains had been rattled. Razor Eddie saw his chance, and took it. He burred across buildings and streets, cracking concrete and leaving grey trails with his speed. Monsters fell apart, or burst into red mist. The maddened Nightsiders stumbled, their addled minds realising their assailants were gone. They looked at Razor Eddie, and something like recognition appeared on their faces. Most of them stood in place, or sat down on the pavement, to get their breath back. They had calmed down a little, even if they were still twitching.

'Well,' Walker said, actually sounding surprised. 'That wasn't quite what I had in mind. But, if it works...' He walked to Eddie, smiling slowly. 'Let's go. If we repeat this a few more times, we could clean the city of monsters while the others fight Lilith.'

Harry stepped forward, a steely look in his eyes. 'I'll go with you.'

Jason followed. 'So will I. I've already failed my people. I must make up for it.'

'Well.' Tommy looked at Larry, hands in his pockets. 'Want to play hero?'

'Sure,' the zombie grunted, and took out a curved rod, carved with elven symbols.

'An elven wand!' I said, grinning. 'I knew-'

But they had already disappeared. '-it,' I finished lamely. I looked around, to see if anyone had caught more. 'Anything you can tell us about that?' I asked Hadleigh.

'Yes,' he replied blandly. Then, he turned sideways again, and we were gone, too.

 Harry

Larry Oblivions's wand stopped the monsters in their tracks, along with everything else. We walked through the streets like they were a life-sized painting.

I've gotta get one of these things someday. Stopping time could be so damn useful, and it doesn't even go against the Sixth Law. Though I'm sure there's someone on the White Council who would argue it does.

Every few blocks, we stopped, so that Razor Eddie could go to town on the monsters and those Nightsiders who had turned against each other. The rest of us helped, and, with time on standby, I felt like I was at a carnival game as I slung spells at frozen monsters. Jason and Larry moved amongst them, beating them to pulp with their fists, while Tommy laughed and spoke to himself. Monsters disappeared, or spontaneously combusted, or turned out to have never existed, because of the probability they hadn't.

Each time we cleaned up a section of the city, Larry used his wand again, to restart the flow of time. Then, Walker used his Voice, ordering the surviving Nightsiders to calm down and go hide somewhere safe until everything was over.

I didn't like the way he phrased it.

"Hey," I said after we had cleaned the last block in ghe Nightside's middle area. "Isn't it weird that the angels have stopped hounding our asses?"

"Isn't this exciting enough for you, Dresden?" Larry asked in a withering tone.

"It's a legitimate question."

"Perhaps..." Tommy began, looking like wanted to stroke his beard, before remembering he didn't have one. "Perhaps they realized Lilith is a greater threat than anything in the Nightside, and went after her."

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Maybe," Jason grunted. "Or maybe they turned tail and ran."

Just then, there was a sound like a thousand sheets of paper being ripped apart, and angels, bot light and dark, filled the eternal night sky. They were coming to our location, too.

I gave Jason a look. "You just had to jinx it, huh?"

He growled.

"I have it!" An old, rough voice came from behind and above us. We turned in surprise and saw John's latest client, allegedly Judas Iscariot, standing on a building's rooftop, what looked like a metal bowl in his hands. I realized the angels were flying towards him, towards his bowl.

"The hell is he gonna do?" I thought out loud. "Give them treats?"

The angels gathered in front of him, hovering in the air like giant hummingbirds. Judas looked at them, trembling, but his hands were steady.

"The cup I drank from before my foolish betrayal!" He raised the bowl. "It could tilt the balance of fate in the favour of Heaven or Hell, forever. So, I will give it to you."

I noticed he hadn't specified which group of angels he was talking about. What was his game?

"But I need your word first. Your word that you will leave the Nightside once I give you the Grail."

"We swear," said the angels of light. "Give it to us. It must not fall into Hell's hands."

"We swear," said the angels of darkness. "It must not be kept from us."

Judas raised the bowl high, like he was preparing to throw ito them...and brough it down on one knee. The old, cheap metal burst apart, and the little man held half a bowl in each hand.

"There," he said, grinning. "It is done."

He threw each half to a group of angels, who caught them with something between shock and disbelief. Then, without a word, they left.

I started laughing my ass off.

 John

The Walking Man was not winning.

He wasn't losing, either, but neither was Lilith. They were too evenly matched. In fact, the only losing side in this fight was the city itself.

They had smashed their way through the main drag and Clubland and the Street of the Gods, whose inhabitants had ran from them, shrieking in terror. Lilith's body was covered in smoking gunshot wounds. The Walking Man didn't appear hurt, but his clothes were frayed, and he was breathing heavily.

Something had to break the stalemate, or they'd wreck the Nightside and keep fighting. Hadleigh had an idea. He took the Thorncrown's staff, turned sideways, and appeared behind Lilith. She snarled, but couldn't focus on him without leaving herself open to the Detective Inspectre.

Hadleigh spoke words that made my ears bleed, and the staff was surrounded by coruscating, black and white strands of energy. He rammed it into Lilith's back, and it came out through her chest, where her heart would have been, if she were human.

Lilith screamed, sounding more angry than hurt, and the staff shattered, blown apart. Hadleigh was blasted out of sight.

'He opened a wound. We must strike,' Malahidael said. He beat his wings once, and was suddenly behind Lilith, his sword deep in her wound. His left hand, the one covered in flames, closed over his right one. Lilith's wound burst into white flames, and she screamed again. Malahidael leapt away, the fire gone, the sword fading out of existence. He fell to his knees, his glowing form glowing duller. Chris Gordon grinned tiredly, the fell to the ground.

'That's our cue,' Stark said. 'Light her up!' He shot at Lilith, spat spells and words learned in the Deep School. Madman joined him, trying to erase Lilith from existence. Video and King of Skin tapped deep into their powers, and reality came apart around my mother. Suzie fired round after round, blessed and cursed alike.

Lilith staggered under the assault, and the Walking Man seized his chance. He knocked her sprawling with a kick, and was upon her in seconds. 'Now, Stark!'

The nephilim nodded, and ran to the shadow of a ruined building. He studied it for a few seconds, the nodded. 'C'mon, Saint! Fucking do it!'

The Walking Man shoved both revolvers down Lilith's throat, and fired. She staggered, spitting black blood. I opened my third eye, my private eye, and found the chance of her recovering from that.

And snuffed it out.

Lilith threw the Walking Man of her, and hesitatingly rose to her feet. She staggered, bacwards, towards the shadow Stark was standing near.

He kicked her into it.

The shadow howled and writhed, then crumpled like paper, as if Lilith's presence was too much for it. And perhaps it was.

'It's done,' Stark said, an unreadable look on his face. 'Neither God nor the Devil can get in or out of the Room of Thirteen Doors without the Key.' He gave the Walking Man a hard look. 'And now, I can't use the room anymore, either. Not with that bitch in there. But...' He took a deep breath, and grinned. 'It was worth it.'

One year later

John

With my mother gone, you'd have thought we'd have time to celebrate, but no. The Nightside had to be rebuilt, and its reality as well.

Walker spoke with the Collector, and convinced his old friend to find Merlin Satanspawn's heart with his time machine. Returned to his prime, the ancient sorcerer restored the city to its former glory, while grumbling we should have "woken me up to fight the old trollop."

I helped Merlin as he worked, using my third eye to find monsters hiding in the shadow, as well as people who wanted to take advantage of the chaos.

I'm closer to Suzie nowadays. She's told me aboout her past, and we live together nowadays. She hasn't let me touch her yet...but we're getting there.

Jason

The Nightguard had fallen apart. I hadn't felt so useless since Daniela's death, but I wasn't going to let it stop me. I contemplated returning home, or staying in the Nightside a little more. After I found a way to cummunicate with my universe, Tabitha, Croft's talking cat, told me the wizard was missing.

I sighed. New York wouldn't look after itself. Time to go back.

Chris

The second time my angel self took over felt just as weird and alien as the first. Speaking of aliens...

After the Doormouse found a Door that led to my reality, I was plesantly surprised to see Earth was still standing. Omega had bolstered the world's defenses, and even managed to capture a few live Vorsook. Ot was time to take the fight to them, especially now that, I learned, I could switch between human and angel at will.

I returned to Tanya, Cora and Wulf. There were some tears during the reunion, but not from me. My eyes just watered a lot.

And let's just say I didn't sleep much that night.

 Harry

Ethniu had been defeated without me, disproving my hypothesis that I was the center of the universe. I was heartbroken.

But the war was just starting. The Fomor had blown open the cover of the supernatural across the world, and things from Outside were breaking new everyday.

Before I left, Walker took me aside for a talk. He told me I was a good man, and he wasn't immortal. The Nightside would need a new Walker one day, if I was interested.

But I already had a monster-filled madhouse to look after, and a world to save.

Stark

I arrive with a clap of thunder, shaking the room Kasabian and I share in Max Overdrive, his video rental place.

"Fucking Christ!" He shrieks when I appear, mechanical body jumping like it's on springs. His piggish eyes glare at me. "Fuck you, Stark! A year away and you return to give me a heart attack!?"

"You didn't have a heart even when you had a body. Where's Candy?"

"On a date. With her girlfriend. You...you didn't expect her to wait for you, right, man?"

"Of course not," I lie. "I'd be pissed if she did. She's always been free to choose for herself."

We crack open a few beers, shoot the shit. Kas doesn't get drunk, which is great for nights like this.

"And what do you do these days?" He asks, gesturing at my new coat.

"I haul my ass around the multiverse, putting down threats to reality before they can reach their full potential. Stop them while there's a chance, however slim," I smirk. "For things to end bloodlessly."

To be continued in

Slim Chances, Volume I