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I put the other end of the portal in the courtyard of Leviathan’s palace. As we stepped through, I remembered Leviathan telling me he’d see me soon. The courtyard was in a furor, and we stepped into a wall of noise. Leviathan, Ashtaroth, and Asmodeus stood near the wall shouting orders at demons. Some demons stood at attention as if awaiting orders from their sires, and some were putting on armor of a style I’d never seen. I suspected it was made in the Stygian, because the metal had an ever so slight red tint. A demon thrust a shield at me as another shoved a sword into my father’s hands. Another, a succubus by the looks of her, was forcing a helmet onto Azrael’s head while another attempted to put a breastplate on him. I had never seen so many demons working together. Nor had I ever seen demons in armor. I guessed the basilisk would be dangerous, but this dangerous? Could it injure demons as well as the living?
I tried to walk my battle party forward toward the hell princes, but there were too many demons. However, when I stopped trying to move forward a demon grabbed my arm and began trying to put armor on me. My instinct was to jerk my arm away. I didn’t let demons touch me either physically or spiritually if I could avoid it, but it seemed rude to jerk away this time, since their goal was to help us. There was shouting from the top of the wall near the gates. Leviathan shouted at the demons who worked the gates to wait. There were shouts from outside the walls and then the gate keepers shouted back something about needing to prepare the living, they would have to wait. I smiled at this. I felt the arm plates pull tight and forced myself to hold my arms out and stand still as small demons tied plates to my legs and a larger demon put a breastplate on me. Azrael asked if I was okay. I told him yes and let the demons put the armor on. I had a feeling demon armor was exquisite; they just struck me as beings that would put their heart and soul into their work. This made it expensive, and quite the honor to be given a set to wear even for a short time. Raphael stood silently throughout, and I followed his gaze, he was staring at Leviathan and Asmodeus, who stood close together. The demons who had been tasked with applying our armor shouted to the hell princes. Leviathan then gave the order for the gate to be raised.
Ten very large demons, all of them a beautiful blue color, carried something massive wrapped in what looked like blankets. It took a moment for me to realize the demons holding the object were Lucifer’s demons. Lucifer doesn’t have many demons, only 25-30, while the hell princes had hundreds each. Even Leviathan, who doesn’t allow many possessions, had a few hundred. It was obvious the ten demons were struggling to keep hold of the object under the blanket. It was enormous. At least six feet around, and the demons were holding it one on each side, with the pairs standing about eight feet apart running the length. They walked toward Leviathan, and the other demons sped away from the group. Once all of it was inside, the thing had to be close to one hundred feet long. Had they gone and found the basilisk and brought it to me? With the regular demons fleeing Lucifer’s demons, we were able to move forward. I stepped toward it first.
“Was anyone injured?” Leviathan asked.
“No,” the demon in front answered, and it dawned on me, it was the little cambion I had discovered the year before, all grown up. Lucifer named him Xerxes after the emperor, who had also been a cambion.
“Demons cannot milk the basilisk,” Leviathan said. “So, we have done what we can.”
“I appreciate it. I will pay all of you when I have a chance,” I said.
“This we do for a trade.” Leviathan shook his head. “The basilisk is a dangerous creature, to your kind and ours. I would like to keep some of the antivenom. While it is rare, occasionally a basilisk will attack a demon, but since we can’t milk them ourselves, we cannot get it. It is as fatal to us as it is to you.”
“That can be arranged,” I told Leviathan, and saw several of the demons let out a breath. Even Xerxes the cambion seemed to let out the breath he’d been holding. Azrael touched my arm. “No, I don’t know what I’m doing, but they went through the trouble of catching it for me, so I will give them what I can,” I told him in a whisper.
As soon as I got around to the head, the demons holding it put it on the ground and then piled on. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. Yes, it was a massive snake. That I had expected, but it was a solid gold color, and venom dripped from one set of fangs. Also, the head was large enough that it could eat me whole. The demons were attempting to hold it still, but the head had been uncovered as it was set down and it seemed furious now, moving its body as if it were a wave and swinging its head back and forth. A small demon handed me something that looked like a large pottery jug.
’The venom is pure white, the antivenom is a dark pink color,“ Leviathan told me as a large hand came down and pinned the snake down just behind holes that I suspected were supposed to be ear holes. I’m not bothered by snakes, even large ones, but I was positive I could fit into the basilisk’s ear hole, and that did bother me a bit. ”You will probably need to remove the venom first, so that you can safely pass to get to the back fangs where it stores its antivenom.“ Leviathan said.
“May I take some of the venom back with me?” I asked. “The AESPCA and Jerome want a bit.”
“Yes,” Leviathan said. I considered that. It wasn’t like if he’d told me no I couldn’t have taken it anyway but asking had seemed polite. I wasn’t sure what Jerome would do with it, but I figured it wasn’t every day I milked a giant, magical snake, so he should have some of the venom. Another massive drop of venom leaked from the basilisk’s fang and dripped to the ground. Some of the splash came up and hit Xerxes and the cambion jerked away, black streaks beginning to race up his leg, and I remembered being told even the dripped venom was strong enough to kill.
“We should definitely hurry. If you would get the containers and stand in a line and hand them to me as I request them,” I said, and my dad and Azrael took the places immediately beside me.
“Let me,” Dad said, taking a second jug.
“No, I don’t think...” I stopped. “No, it has to be me,” I told him. The magic leaking from the basilisk’s venom was familiar to me. I looked down where it had hit the soil and noticed the soil was vitrifying. If possible, I’d have Leviathan dig that up for me later and I’d come get it. I imagined that red glass would be beautiful when it finished. I stood in front of the basilisk and began an exorcism spell. It wasn’t a strong one, especially by my standards, but it felt correct, and I gently pushed it at the snake. I let the spell dance along its skin for a moment and then pushed a little more, and the basilisk stopped moving. Then I realized I had a problem, I couldn’t milk both fangs at one time, there was too much room between them. Okay, that would make it slower, but it wasn’t soul destroying, and I needed to get on with it. Xerxes had fallen to the ground and his body writhed. I slipped the first jug over the fang as best I could. I say jug, but amphora would be a better description, it was about four feet long, and I could barely hold it. I knew I wouldn’t be able to wrap my arms around it and have them touch. Dad leaned in and helped steady the jug. I pulled forward on it, using the jug to apply a small amount of pressure on the fang, just like I’d seen herpetologists on TV do when milking snakes. It took less than five minutes to fill the amphora. Azrael stepped forward with a second and helped me hold it, as Dad and a demon moved the first amphora away from us.
The second amphora was nearly full when I felt the basilisk start its spell. I tried to push Azrael out of the way but failed, and he fell to the ground. The spell washed over me. I felt it blow back my hair but nothing more. Dad pulled Azrael out of the way and stepped into his place. The demons were cowering as the spell spread out, and I heard a moan of anguish, but I couldn’t tell from whom.
“Go,” Leviathan said, and I was sure he was talking to the demons, not us. Another large hand came into my field of vision for a moment, and then I gave the basilisk all my attention again. Judging by color, it was Asmodeus assisting Leviathan with holding the basilisk. I finished the second amphora, and a large hand gave a third to my father. Were the larger demons more immune to basilisk magic? I had only a second to wonder and then I pushed the thought from my head. Outside the gates I heard footsteps and felt them travel through the ground. Another hell prince no doubt, hopefully a friendly one and not a foe. Leviathan shouted and I felt the gates begin to open. Now the venom was slowing, and I had to put more pressure on the back of the fang and roof of the mouth, where I was sure it was stored. I wondered if it would have been faster to kill the damn thing and take the venom and antivenom sacks out and empty them that way.
“Allow me,” said a deep, booming voice I recognized as Lucifer’s. I felt the snake go even more rigid, and Leviathan straightened up. He took a couple of steps to the side, and I felt amphoras being moved toward my position.
“Soleil don’t hurt yourself, but please work faster if possible,” Leviathan said. “The venom works faster in demons than the living, as does the basilisk’s magic.” Azrael was struggling back to his feet.
“You good?” I asked him, not turning to look.
“Yes. You didn’t feel it? It was if I was hit in the brain by a sledgehammer,” Azrael said.
“I think I’m immune to basilisk magic because it was part of Jophiel and Zadkiel’s gift,” I replied. Dad made a noise that I couldn’t interpret, and Lucifer replied with a simple yes. I was sure there was a reason they thought I needed to be immune to basilisk magic, but I didn’t have the time to hear it. I put it on my to-be-asked-later list. Finally, the fang gave up no more venom. I put the amphora down with help from Dad and grabbed another from Leviathan. I put it on the second fang and began the process again. The second fang went faster, maybe I was getting better at it. I applied a little more pressure, no longer worried I’d break the fang and end up covered in basilisk venom. The next three amphora filled in about half the time the first three did. Dad and I sat the amphora down and I looked. The antivenom fangs were visible up in the jaws of the damn snake’s mouth and about a foot behind the venom fangs. Well, how the fuck do I get them down? I wondered. The basilisk sent out more magic, and I did manage to get Dad and Azrael to step away. Ashtaroth gave a groan.
“Soleil, please,” Leviathan said. I took a small breath and stepped into the basilisk’s mouth. I stood on its tongue, though Dad protested, and I rubbed the jaw near the anti-venom fang; after a moment of this while still pushing my own magic, the fangs folded down. They dripped a thick, pink substance that I guessed was antivenom. The basilisk shut its jaws. What the fuck! I lost all the light, and I was worried the snake was going to try to swallow me. Yep, we should have killed it and taken the fluids directly from the sacks. I felt the snake shake its head. I grabbed the newly folded-down fang, wrapping my arms around it to stay on my feet. If I fell, there was no way I’d avoid being swallowed. Then a sliver of light appeared, and noise returned. I tried to look at the light and saw what I thought was a hand in front of it. Then light poured in, and I was looking up at Leviathan’s face. His hands held the jaws of the basilisk open. His face disappeared as the snake moved. I could feel the body of the basilisk thrashing further down away from the mouth, and I heard Asmodeus give a small yelp. I pushed the exorcism spell again, this time more forcefully, and suddenly the basilisk went still. Very still. Too still. I pulled the magic back. The basilisk was dead. Leviathan continued to hold the jaws open. I stepped out into the light and grabbed an amphora. No one outside the basilisk was moving; they were all staring. I took a moment to look. The basilisk’s soul was writhing on the ground next to its body.
“When I’m done, I’ll try to put it back,” I said, and everyone turned to stare at me.
“I didn’t know they had souls,” Lucifer said, a touch of wonder in his voice.
“Everything capable of magic has a soul,” I replied. Leviathan had to hold the mouth open for me, but without the basilisk fighting getting the antivenom went a whole lot faster, because Dad and Azrael were able to come inside with me. Also, without its soul it couldn’t cast magic and the demons could come back. I wasn’t sure I could put the soul back in its body, and I felt bad about that. In general, I tried not to kill things, not people, not demons, not even insects, let alone creatures with souls like dragons and bennus, and basilisks, because it made me feel bad. There was one hiccup—without its soul the antivenom sacks didn’t pump into the amphora, so Dantalian came inside with me and helped me by rubbing the jaws to free the antivenom. We only got an amphora and a half from each sack, but I had expected there would be less antivenom than venom.
When we all stepped back out, the basilisk’s soul was still writhing on the ground next to its body.
“We should move it outside the walls, and then I’ll try putting the soul back,” I said, and several demons came forward to help move it. I noticed they all avoided the wriggling worm-like soul, coming completely around the basilisk to move it, and then they rolled it like a super-giant log out of the gate. They weren’t gentle about it either. Leviathan dipped one finger into one of the partial amphora of antivenom and then held his hand over Xerxes and let it drip onto him. His entire body had gone from lovely blue to black.
With the basilisk outside the gates, I began doing the exorcism spell in reverse, while glaring at the soul that remained inside the walls. It took a minute or so, and then the soul disappeared. When I turned around, demons were carefully moving the venom and antivenom into smaller jugs, and the black color was receding from Xerxes’ skin, being replaced by the normal blue again. It spread out from where the two drops had landed on him. He was standing again, and I felt that was a win. I was less sure the soul of the basilisk had gone back into its body as it remained motionless outside the walls, according to the demons that manned the gates. Maybe it had gone wherever souls go when they are waiting to be reincarnated as something else. The demons working with the venom and antivenom were going slowly and very carefully. They used what I could only describe as long handled ladles to dip the venom out of the amphoras and move it to a line of much smaller and more manageable jugs. This would take forever.
“May I take some antivenom now and come back for more after I’ve healed Michael and my friend?” I asked Lucifer and Leviathan.
“I will set aside twenty jugs of antivenom for you, that should provide a cure for hundreds of envenomations. I will set aside jugs of the venom for you to distribute as you see fit, you have my oath,” Lucifer told me. “The rest we will keep for our own uses. Soleil, it takes far less antivenom to cure than venom to kill.” I nodded and grabbed a jug of the antivenom. It was heavier than I expected. It was about the size of a half-gallon of milk, but probably weighed close to ten pounds. I didn’t know if that was because Stygian pottery was dense and heavy or the antivenom was dense and heavy. At any rate, I opened a portal and Dad, Azrael, and I stepped back through into the hospital parking lot. There was a tow truck there, and they were hooking up the half car. An older woman came toward us. It is really easy to identify Raphael and Azrael as archangels; their wing spans are huge and while they’ve learned to tuck them in, they are still visible.