The Lure of the Basilisk

The Lure of the Basilisk is a 1980 fantasy novel by American writer Lawrence Watt-Evans.

Garth was promised immortal fame by the Forgotten King - a decrepit ancient, dressed in yellow rags, who huddled over a tavern table in the decaying outpozt of Skelleth. Butcthere was a price, Garth must first bring back the creature he would find in the ancient crypts beneath the ensorcelled city of Mormoreth. To an overman, such as Garth, it seemed a simple task...until he found that the way was beset by invisible bandits...that Mormoreth was ruled by the dreaded enchanter Shang...and that the dweller in the crypts was a basilisk, whose breath was poison, whose touch was deadly and whose gaze turned living creatures to stone!

How does a man -- or even an overman -- entrap a basilisk? How can he handle it on the long road back to Skelleth? And above all -- what possible use has the Forgotten King for a basilisk?