This issue had quite a delay in hitting stands. The last one left off on such a powerful note that I was a little worried the intervening months would make it a little tough to jump right back in with the same emotion. Until I opened the issue and looked at the first page. It's Mel, carrying Loo's pale and broken body through the street, Urkonn following behind. Loo just looks so tiny and frail, such an innocent victim in all this. Mel looks calmer and more resolute than she ever has, and Urkonn is doing his best to make sure that Mel understands what it means when she says she's going to war. Looking at this page, I just had to pause for a minute and let the scene wash over me. Beautiful work by Karl Moline.

Melaka bears the body to Loo's parents at the tavern. She lays her on the table, and Loo's father wraps his arm around her tiny, lifeless frame. Loo's mother walks right up to Mel and punches her in the face hard as she can. Obviously she thinks Mel got her little girl killed, and I can't say she's wrong. Mel simply stands and takes the hit, then lays a hand on the grieving mother's shoulder.

In the background, we're still hearing Urkonn's words to Mel about what it will mean to make war on Harth and the lurks. There will be violence. People will die at Melaka's order because not only will she have to be a fighter, she'll have to be a leader too. He tells her, "The Slayer fights most often alone, but in times of battle, she is called upon to lead. This will be hard for you, harder even than killing... People will not listen. But you will make yourself heard."

As Mel walks out of the tavern, she passes the little boy Loo was playing with in the last issue, the one who told her that the lurks were going to kill her. There are tears streaming down his face, and my heart breaks for him. He must feel so awful. And no dialogue is wasted explaining this - it's clear just at the sight of him what he's feeling. But before Mel addresses the crowd that's assembling outside the tav, Urkonn has a gift for her.

"It is a weapon. Forged eons ago for the Slayer alone. Lost for centuries. Carry it, for it is your sword and your scepter. Let it proclaim you the hero - and the monster - that you will need to be. Make your war."

Melaka speaks to the crowd, tells them that they're all in danger from the lurks, but they refuse to believe that a bunch of blood-crazed junkies pose any real threat. Some think she's exaggerating, others think she's on a vengeance kick after getting beaten up by Icarus. One goes so far as to accuse her of trying to use the crowd's sorrow over Loo to manipulate them into fighting her fight. A few of the assembled actually seem to think Mel's making sense, but they're all too scared and distrustful to really believe or put themselves in danger.

Harth, on the other hand, is having much greater success addressing his audience. The scores of vampires at his feet chant their support for The One Who Will Lead, and as he speaks from his pulpit, he promises them glory - he will bring hell back to the earth. Harth isn't just setting a scheme in motion, he's gathering an army.

Next we see the floaty god head guys - Boluz and Vrill - and they are so very unattractive in person. One's appropriately referred to as a "lake of flesh", complete with complimentary bugs and larvae crawling about his navel and nose, and the other is pretty much a clawed spider with fangs. Sue me, I'm judging on appearances, and these guys don't inspire confidence. Especially since their lair is decorated with assorted body parts. Of course, that could also be because of what they've got to say. SpiderGuy knows of Harth's plan and agrees he shouldn't be allowed to open the gateway. So far, so good. I'm on board with that. Then he has to go and add, "Not until we are ready." See, like I said. Not exactly inspiring confidence.

After her unsuccessful attempt to rally the crowd at the tav, Mel is angry...

Melaka: Buncha lowlife brainless jackheads. Everyone of 'em.
Urkonn: It could have gone better.
Melaka: They wouldn't even listen! I probably shouldn't have started hitting people.
Urkonn: I don't think that was helpful, no.

They're walking next to the water towards the pipe where Mel escaped after the beatdown she got from Harth. She's hoping it'll lead her to his lair, but Urkonn doesn't want to go in. He says they'd be ready for her - especially if she charged in there alone. Again, she doubts herself, upset that her first attempt at leadership was such a spectacular failure, but then she senses something amiss. She vaults up a pile of rubble to a narrow balcony where she peers through a hole in a wall. Inside, a voice weakly begs someone not to hurt her. Then without hesitation, Melka draws her weapon.

Mel crashes through the wall, vaulting to the floor below to confront two lurks about to kill a woman. Her first try with the stake end of her weapon is too low. He's pissed now, but so is she. And she's finally figured out how to turn her rage against the lurks. Finally, she begins to do, as she says, what she was born to do. She slays. She runs the both of them through with one swift thrust of the stake, and they explode into dust.

It takes her an understandable moment to process her victory, what with them going 'poof' like that and all. Then she actually breaks out into a smile, enjoying her success until she remembers the part Urkonn once mentioned about them hanging out in packs...

Several more lurks charge her, knocking her back through the wall to the sidewalk below. One vampire's head goes flying even before they hit the ground, cleanly severed by Mel's new weapon. Urkonn joins the fight, taking on two of the lurks. She stakes another, then two more drag her over the railing and into the water. She's at a disadvantage here, unable to breathe, and she silently pleads for Urkonn to help her. But when he doesn't, she gathers herself, emerging from the water to stake one vampire and take the other's head. Finally, she's become the Slayer.

Over at the precinct, Erin's starting to go all Kate Lockley. She's looking at Mel's and Icarus' files and putting the pieces together as she thinks about what Melaka told her. Her partner, Broder, says he's heard about what Mel's been doing. Rumour has it she's been killing lurks, but unless they catch her in the act, they can't do much since they haven't found any bodies. Gee, imagine that. Erin mentions Mel's visit, and Broder comments that "That would be when she stopped by your place, yeah. When you forgot she was under arrest?" Erin doesn't rise to the bait, though. She mentions the attack where the lurks took Mel from police custody. Two officers were killed. Erin and Broder were pretty badly injured. And yet for some reason, the top cop brass doesn't seem more upset that they can't stop the lurks. Both officers seem to agree that between her conspiracy theories and recent violence, it looks like Mel's lost it.

Harth and I, however, have a very different assessment of the situation, and frankly, we're impressed. Mel hasn't lost it - she's finally gotten herself together. Of course, Harth isn't nearly as pleased about that as I am. He and Icarus expected to have broken her spirit by now, but their efforts have seriously backfired. Harth muses that he had really been looking forward to the look on Mel's face when he opened the gateway, but she's become too much of a liability to let her stay alive that long. He dispatches Icarus to hunt her down but says he'll want Icarus to bring him Mel's body. In the meantime, he's got some work of his own to do. Hey, think it involves that towering pile of corpses he's standing next to? Eesh!

Mel's definitely getting this Slayer thing down. She dusts another lurk, this time in front of witnesses who see the body explode into dust. Maybe now they'll understand...

Thoughts:

Alarums: a warning or alarm, especially a call to arms (dictionary.com)

This issue felt shorter than the others, probably because there were fewer history lessons and a whole lot more action. Once more, the artwork does an excellent job of conveying the story, the simplest images managing to say the most. Particularly the first page, which was a real work of art. Not that it was particularly pretty or detailed - the frank simplicity of it said it all. It was just so evocative and pulled me right back into the story. A good thing, since there was over a 3 month wait between issues.

But even though there were fewer mysteries to ponder, there are still some big ones out there. What role will Boluz and Vrill play in all this? It's obvious they're using Mel, but to what end is still unclear. And will his loyalty to them put Urkonn in a difficult position when weighed against his partnership with Mel? Okay, yes. Of course it will. The only real question there is which loyalty will win out. In addition, we've yet to see if the residents of the warren where Mel lives will finally take up arms and join the fight. Something tells me they're gonna have to. I just wonder if they're going to have a cool 'flame unit' like the Sunnydale Class of '99 did against the Mayor.

Also, do the police really just not stress some blood-junkies down in the slums, or is there a more deliberate plan of non-interference at work? It appears that Erin, too, will end up with a decision to make about where her loyalty lies, but my money says she'll do whatever she can to keep her sister from harm.

The other question, then, is what on earth is Harth going to do with that mountain of corpses? I don't even want to know. Okay, I'll correct myself again... I'm definitely intrigued, but it's obviously not gonna be pretty. My first thought when he told Icarus to bring him Mel's body was that he's planning to turn her. But if that were the case, he would have told Icarus to bring her back alive.

Big plans involving a pile of dead bodies can't possibly lead anywhere good.

It was wonderful to see Mel finally take to her place as the Slayer! She's always moved with a catlike grace, and she wields the weapon beautifully. And the weapon is so kick! Half-axe with a stake bayonet, it was featured in the "Tales of the Slayers" trade paperback that came out (also after a long delay) last month, so I'd seen it before, but it was great to see it put to such good use.

[Side note, post-BtVS: yeah, it's that weapon! And it was featured here long before it made it to the show. So when Buffy crashed into the cave and saw it sitting there all gleaming and gorgeous? Sweet Jeebus, you should have heard me scream my fool head off! My hubby's still traumatised (^_-)]

Next issue should see the big showdown between Mel and Icarus, and I can't wait! Harth's plan is about to get underway, and we still don't know what the fugly demon-god guys' interest is in all of this. It also remains to be seen whether the Watcher's Council will have any role in the conflict that's about to come, but undoubtedly Boluz and Vrill have expectations about how they want this to go. And what they expect from Urkonn. Plus, Erin and Mel's neighbors all have some big decisions to make.

Know what made me squeal with girly glee? The hint in the letter column that there just might be a Fray action figure in the works.

Oh, yes. It will be mine.

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