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#basilisk - Dark Chibi - Cold and Stone — Description

This is PART 4 of an X Part series
PREQUEL 1 PREQUEL 2 PART 1 PART 2 PART 3
The Legal Jargon: The written portion of this work is an original hand-written fictional story. As such, it is protected under Copyright and Intellectual Property Law. No permissions are given for distribution or commercial use. All Rights Reserved.
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The Seep Of The Void
or
Cold As Ice and Hard As Stone
They called him 'The Basilisk'. Not because his gaze was particularly lethal, but because his very nature was so cold and dark that he could turn a human to ice as hard as stone simply by freezing the poor bastard's soul with his attentions.
He liked it that way, even if it did occasionally prove inconvenient when one of his agents annoyed him.
The name also came from the fact that the form he himself was locked into had the texture and look of stone, even as it was pure ice. Damned Fallen Angel got him good on that one; his one desire---to walk among mortals and find ways to use them to his advantage and entertainment---forever denied because of a deal he cut that sealed him in a form that would utterly annihilate their sanity and health were they to gaze upon it. Lucifer really knew his business when it came to the 'rook and crook', as mortals called it.
Asteroth was not your typical Void Entity, you see. He found God's creations to be very entertaining. They weren't insects to him; they were a grand experiment that was definitively worth the endless amounts of time it took to watch them and occasionally step in and manipulate them. They did such wonderfully insane things, by the standards of the chaotic creatures of The Immaterium, that they never stopped being interesting...at least to him, anyway.
And so it was that as he sat brooding this day in his ancient craggy lair, he found himself once again intrigued by events unfolding around him. The Daemon that landed and bowed before him was the first step: it bore information concerning one of his weaker and less savory siblings. Oh, how Cor Glaciale liked to thrash about, acting as if she were one of the very mortals that she held in such contempt. The irony was particularly delicious to the being once referred to as The Terror of The Stars. She called herself a 'Goddess' and scurried about hither-and-yon directing mortals to foment cruelty and pain, making deals, elevating mortals and squandering what little reach and power she could pass through the Void Portal that the fool Asmodeus had created--at his, Asteroth's, prompting we might add.
So many deeper machinations among the various cosmic players, and Cor Glaciale contented herself playing checkers while beings of a Higher Order still played games of Go or Chess by comparison. He was particularly tickled by this analogy, as humans once again proved their cleverness with games of such tiered complexity. He enjoyed humans especially among the various short-lived entities of this world, as they had God's favor in ways that the elves, Faery folk and Eatherins could not. It made them particularly industrious and fun to both play with, and work with. There had even been men and women that Asteroth considered closer to peers in his long existence than he ever would any other being including many of his siblings.
Now though, there was a game afoot where Cor Glaciale was attempting to rise above her station and make forays into physicality. This would not do, in Asteroth's estimation. He gave up much to wander this world, and he jealously guarded that singularly unique status he held. No foolish upstart was going to horn in on his special privileges, to say the least.
He instructed the Daemon to inform its Infernal masters what he would need and what he would pay to get it. He then sent the thing packing with a very dire warning. Time was of the essence, after all.
As soon as the thing was gone, he summoned his favorite human sorcerer, a man who had managed to actually evade mortality and the Angel of Death (ah Azrael...of all of the Sons of Heaven, Asteroth held a sweet spot for that one!) by ascending to the state of undeath and becoming a strange little creature called a "Lich". Asteroth didn't quite get the appeal; after all, the man could not eat, sleep or touch anything. Where was the fun and excitement of life for him?! It seemed like an utterly and profoundly boring existence to The Ancient Star-killer. The man was useful, however, and the state of undeath did grant resilience against Asteroth's own Void Presence, which was highly convenient.
He instructed the entity of what he would need from it, including very powerful wards against detection of his true power, and cloaks of magic that went well beyond the capacity of mortal sorcerers to pierce. The Lich was amenable, pleased to inform his master that he already had many such constructs in his possession or within the scope of his power to create. Asteroth showed his pleasure at hearing this---nearly discorporating the monster in the process---and then set about other small details that needed to be hammered out in order to implement his plan to first play with, then ultimately thwart and punish his idiot sibling.
And with that, The Basilisk left its lair and entered the realms of Man.
🎇🎇🎇
At the same time, a light lit upon the rear lawn of the main house at Ceillian's Rest. There was no preamble and the usual grandiosity by which these beings traveled was completely discarded. The message to be delivered was too important, and too secret for any grandstanding. Sweet irony stepped in to further aid the entity as it sought someone with which to speak to, only to here a small and high-pitched voice speak up from behind it.
"Hi-hi! What for come does-is a bright-bright of The Big come to here for?" Greenie Fireflick stood in thin air directly behind the ear of the mighty being, startling the poor creature and causing it nearly to cut her in twain. It regarded the ancient Wood Sprite, who seemed politely curious but not the least bit impressed by its presence.
This is something an Elohim Æterna was absolutely not used to experiencing.
"Are you thick or foolish, little fae?! I could have incinerated you for surprising me thusly!" she retorted with pique.
"Nah. bright-bright not tricksie nuff to poof Greenie Fireflick." The sprite smiled an almost wicked smile, and then the angel felt a tap on her other shoulder. The emanation the Wood Sprite had made evaporated even as the Elohim turned her head...not without trepidation at this point.
Greenie was standing on her shoulder, hands on hips and blowing her a raspberry!
Completely out of countenance now, the angel simply forged into her message.
"I..I have a message for the Nephilim." Greenie nodded enthusiastically, having made her point. "There is a creature seeking to do her harm. It will attempt to use one of her own to do it. I know not the specifics of the plan, but I know that Cor Glaciale of The Void has returned the death knight Ivor Hartlys to mortality for the task, and has instructed the very Grand Master of the Lost Order to aid him. Will you discretely deliver this message to your Mistress?"
"Oh...very dire...very cold-cruel!" The Wood Sprite actually looked angry, even though it seemed impossible on her round, open and pert little features. "Yeah? Yeah! Greenie will speaky-speak hard and soft to Miss Ceillian abouts this! Count on Greenie Fireflick! Greenie hearts-loves all the Big-bigs here. Theys makes Greenie strong again, and they hearts-loves Greenie. Greenie will not lets the harms come to Pretty-pretty Bigs!" The creature actually seemed to growl in her chest and grow larger with this intonation, although it seemed an illusion or glamour at a glance.
With that, the wood sprite zipped off without another word, looking for a secret and secure way to enter the main house undetected. The Elohim Æterna simply breathed a sigh of relief and knew its job was done. And with that, it faded as if it were never present to begin with.
To Be Continued...