When a scientist's wife is injured by a basilisk he faces a terrible choice...let her die, or join with its creator to breed more killers. Nathan Underhill is right out at the cutting edge of stem-cell research: attempting to recreate mythological creatures such as gryphons and gargoyles in order to cure medical conditions like Alzheimer's and MS. After five years of research, however, his latest experiment fails, and he loses his funding. But when his doctor wife Grace loses an elderly patient in unusual circumstances, Nathan suspects that somebody else has been trying to breed mythical hybrids...and succeeded. Nathan and Grace investigate, and discover that Doctor Zauber, owner of the local care home, has brought to life one of the most dangerous creatures of medieval times - the basilisk, which could reputedly kill any living thing with a single stare. Grace narrowly escapes being killed, but she is put into a coma. Nathan is faced with an impossible dilemma - lose Grace for ever, or enter into an unholy alliance with Doctor Zauber to breed more mythological beasts, at the cost of many more human lives.