All of his masks: his sarcasm, his bravado, his questionable ability to hide his strong emotions, all were stripped away now that Meret had entered his life.

This, I think, is what made ILWS, and will make this tale, so interesting. The fact that Meret is a conduit for the strong emotions of those she sees as family. Suddenly, all of those carefully built and reinforced barriers are vulnerable, unreliable. Suddenly, they all have to get used to facing each other unashamed, unafraid and honestly. Some of her influence is already manifest, maybe(?), in the attitudes to Spike of the other Scoobies. Less blatant aggression, far less suspicion, and lots more cooperation.

I sense that your incorporation of mythical beasties is going to keep me on my toes throughout this story. I'd heard of the basilisk, but never a cockatrice. Having looked it up, I'm worried you keep being drawn to some really ugly buggers, pet... aren't there any more pretty beasties from mythology like the coatl? It'd make the dark places they're visiting a little less scary for me.

Of course, if you then add in necromancy, rictus smiling skeletons and dark magics... I might need several bottles of whiskey with spike, too!

As ever, your narrative is intelligent and really well crafted, and I'm delighted we're going to get more Spike/Buffy interaction.

Delighted you're back and posting.

Author's Response: It's good to be back. I'll try to find a less oogly critter to reference later on just for you. :-D Thanks for reviewing!

Great Start. Looking forward to reading more.
Please continue to update soon and often.

Author's Response: I'm actually posting as I go, unlike the last two stories, so I'm going to try to keep to a weekly posting schedule. I'm glad you liked it so far. Thanks for reviewing!

Good Start.

Author's Response: Thanks!