The Ymojoi Trilogy Book 2 - The Forgotten: First Warning
by Simon Northwood
Angel sat in the office, Wesley was filling him in on all of the latest prophecies and Harmony was taking notes.
“Now I believe that there is going to be some sort of uprising in Reseda. Now normally the Watchers Council would take care of it but now…it looks like Reseda could do with a bit of help.”
“What’s the demon?” Angel asked, reluctant to loose one of his team unless it was completely necessary.
“Quite serious, I’m afraid. It’s the Beast of Amalfie. A razor toothed harbinger of death. Shouldn’t be too difficult to exterminate but we don’t want to take the chance.”
“I agree,” Harmony said from her position perched on the desk next to Angel.
As one Angel and Wesley turned to look at her.
Angel said what they where both thinking, “I’ll take that into consideration.”
“That’s quite okay,” Harmony said ignorantly with a smile.
Angel turned his focus back to Wesley, “If you think that it is totally necessary then you can take a team down to Reseda but I need you to hurry back, if the negotiations with the Ymojoi fail then we’ve got a war on our hands and to be honest I don’t want to be fighting this war with Lorne and Harmony.”
Wesley turned and expected to have the full fury of Harmony flying at him but she seemed not to have noticed so Wesley turned back and thanked Angel and then got up and left.
Angel pressed the speaker-phone and rung Gunn’s office.


An hour later Angel had called a meeting with the remaining members of his team. Fred, Lorne and Gunn where in their usual places with Spike standing just behind Fred, whom he seemed to have formed some sort of attachment with.
This worried Angel.
“As you know,” Angel began, “first negotiations with the Ymojoi failed and we still have the threat of them starting a war with vampires, that is why Gunn and I have decided that we have to go on a business trip. Gunn and I will be leaving at midnight and I’d like you,” Angel pointed to Lorne then Fred and made a point of not pointing at Spike so that the ghost didn’t get the idea that Angel even liked him.
“Hold on there Angel,” Lorne said, “the only experience I ever had was managing Caritas, so unless you want me to make sure the bar on the third floor is fully stocked I’m not sure what to do.”
Angel paused, “There’s a bar?”
Lorne seemed less than happy, “I invited you last Wednesday to come and hear Nick and Jessica duet.”
Fred looked amazed, the group looked at her, “I can’t believe that I missed that.”
“Anyway,” Gunn interrupted, “we’ve got to go. If we’re late for a meeting with the Ymojoi then we’re likely to fail the negotiations before we start them. As you know somebody is trying to make a profit out of this war”
“So,” Angel said, “I guess that that means you two are acting CEO’s.”
“Well,” Fred asked, “what shall we do?”
Angel hadn’t really thought about this, back at the Hyperion there would always be another job that needed to be wrapped up but at a multi-dimensional corporation there was always someone else to do something, “We’ve still got to finish the staff evaluations so if you wouldn’t mind finishing them.”
Lorne looked at Fred and they both nodded in agreement.
Lorne returned his attention to Angel, “Okay Angel-cakes, I’m sure me and Fred can keep you seat warm until you come back.”
Gunn looked at his watch, “We’d better get going, Angel.”
“Sure,” Angel said standing, “are you sure you’re going to be okay.”
“We’ll be fine,” Lorne said, “now go and stop a war for us.”
Angel and Gunn entered the private elevator to the car-pool and left Lorne, Fred and Spike alone.
Fred turned from the elevator door and faced the other two, “So, what do you think the first major crisis is going to be now the elevator doors closed?”


In a black van, parked just around the corner from the rebuilt Wolfram and Hart building two Ymojoi wizards watched as a car appeared from Angel’s private car-pool.
They had spent the day preparing for the Calling and now it was time for the Performance.
As one the Ymojoi began to chant.


In Angel’s office Fred, Lorne and Spike waited for the first member of staff to come in for their interviews.
Wesley had set these interviews up weeks ago and so Angel or Harmony had lost the review forms and so anybody could have come through the door.
Fortunately, or not it had been Harmony.
“Hey guys,” she began, “my name’s Harmony Kendall and I’ve been working here for ten weeks, so far I have had no evil thoughts and I’m now off of human blood completely.” She ended with a smile.
Spike answered, “Thank you Harmony but we know that you can’t be evil.”
“Shut up, Spike. Who do you think you are anyway?”
“More evil than you are for a start,” he retorted.
Fred interrupted the conversation before it reached the point of no return. “Harmony, Spike, neither of you are particularly evil any more, just annoying.”
Fred waited to see if there was any reaction and when there wasn’t she carried on, “Harmony, I think we can trust you so could you send the next person in?”
Harmony put her arms by her side and beamed at her panel, “Thank you so much, you won’t regret this,” she said as she left.
“I doubt that very much,” Spike said under his breath.
For the next twenty minutes Lorne led an interview with an extremely unfunny young woman from the torture department who insisted on telling all the jokes her four year old wouldn’t laugh at and left only when Spike insulted her often enough to make her cry and forced her to leave.
As the door closed behind the woman, Lorne, Fred and Spike let out a sigh of relief.
Harmony knocked on the door and came in, “Sorry I didn’t come in earlier but I didn’t want to be stuck listening to Unfunny Fiona for longer than I have to.”
“You know Fiona?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty unfortunate. I organise Mr. Londen Torture Tours for the Cola demons.”
“Kolesh demons Harmony,” Lorne corrected and then justified himself according to the looks he got from the others. “Kolesh are great fans of Celine Dion, I have to know these things if we’re going to keep Wolfram and Hart in business.”
“Well much as I’d like to carry on discussing the demon Z-list and their affinity for torture I’ve got people I could be annoying. Fred, I’ll go tell Knox where you are.”
And with that Spike left the room through the nearest wall.
“Anyways, there’s a visitor for Gunn but I told her that Gunn was away on business and so she said that she wanted to see you.”
“Send her in,” Fred said.
Harmony wandered over to the door and called for the visitor to come in.
The woman strode in wearing a combination of red and black leather, the red streak through her hair immediately gave her away as Gwen Raiden.
“Gwen!” Lorne exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”
Gwen was followed through the door almost immediately by a speechless Spike.
Seeing the glances he got from all present Spike defended himself. “Well I’ve got to stay for the interviews. I may pick up on something that the rest of you miss. Now I realise I was a tad hasty to brush you off earlier but I feel this is important.” Spike turned his attention to Gwen, “And who are you?” He said with a smile.
Harmony guffawed and left the room.
Gwen sauntered over to Spike, “My name’s Gwen, and who are you you chiselled lovely? Why haven’t I met him before?” She went to stroke his face but simply passed through.
“Great,” she said, “another freak.”
Spike was offended, “Well it’s bloody nice to meet you too. Who is this and why is she in Angel’s office?”
Fred stood up to make introductions, “This is Gwen Raiden,” she stared straight at Gwen, “and I repeat why the hell are you in Angel’s office?”
“Where’s Gunn?” Gwen said avoiding Fred and looking straight at Lorne.
“He’s out,” Fred pushed.
“Not taken his lover with him?” Gwen said with a smile.
Spike looked amazed, “Well that explains all the sexual tension between you and lawyer-man.”
“Who the hell’s lawyer man?” Gwen asked, “and why the hell is Angel in charge of Wolfram and Hart?”
“We got a deal with them after we killed Jasmine and apparently ended world peace, they gave us the keys to their chocolate factory and now we’re left running the place and everybody’s totally out of their depth,” Lorne informed her, “How’ve you been?”
“Fine, lying low since sun was blotted out. How did you guys get along with that Beast thing?”
Lorne continued, “Turns out that Cordelia was it’s Master and then she somehow gave birth to a Power-that-Was that wanted to give peace to everyone but had to kill loads of people to do it. Angel decided it was for the best and so we killed her. Then Wes’ ex-lover ex-person came back from the dead and offered Wolfram and Hart to us, we took it and Gunn was convinced that he would be better off with a super knowledge so now he knows all kinds of stuff that he didn’t before, now we’re trying to find out who on our staff is evil and also trying to prevent a war between Ymojoi and Vampires.”
“Wow,” Gwen said offhand, “that’s messed up. So what’s Spook doing here?”
“It’s Spike,” he said, “and I’m stuck in LA with Wolfram and Hart as my centre because of an artefact that I used to save the world from the First ever evil.”
“Do you have to have a glorious back story to work here?” Gwen wondered, “Somebody should write all this down ‘cause outsiders are going to be almightily confused.”
Fred went straight back to business, “So now we know all about us why don’t you tell us what the hell you’re doing here.”
“I need some help with a real dangerous job and I need to have some bodies.”
As Fred was about to retort Harmony came charging through the door.
“Oh. My. God.” Harmony simply said.
“What is it?” Lorne said as Spike disappeared through the door.
Harmony attempted to control her heaving chest, trying to hold back the tears. “There’s a monster out there.”
Spike came back through the door, “Looks like you’re going to get those bodies Gwen.”


Lorne, Fred, Spike, Harmony and Gwen waited in Angel’s office, ready for a demon to come bursting through the door any moment.
“Question,” Harmony broke the silence, “why… if there is a giant killer monster who has taken out half the reception area is waiting outside our door are we standing here?”
“Good question,” Lorne said.
“Well,” Gwen said, “how do you propose we get out without running in front of it?”
“Umn,” Lorne pointed out, “why don’t we use the car-pool elevator and then come back up and call Angel?”
“Hold on,” Harmony said, “last time I went down there the only way out was through the exit, which will lead us into direct sunlight and being a vampire that is something that I don’t want to happen.”
“When did you use the elevator?” Fred asked.
“When Angel and you guys where out the other day, me and a couple of the girls -”
Lorne interrupted, “Could we concentrate on the fact that soon the demon killer will notice we are not out there!”
At that moment the door caved in easily and the demon came through. It was about six and a half feet tall, the single horn came out from the centre of his head and curved into a fearsome point.
It’s armour was ancient and looked as though it had allowed him to survive many battles.
“Oh dear God,” Lorne said quaking.
Fred called out, “Get to the door.”
Fred, Lorne and Harmony ran to the door and pressed the call button.
Gwen stayed and fought the demon but was batted away almost instantly.
“Where’s the elevator?” Harmony cried.
The demon came at the group, roaring.
Spike poked his head through the elevator door and saw that the elevator was, “Here. It’s here!”
The doors opened and Fred, Lorne and Harmony leapt into the elevator and Gwen stood up.
“Gwen,” Fred shouted, “get in!”
“You go,” she shouted back, “I’ll hold it here.”
“You can’t, it’ll kill you!”
“You heard her you nerd,” Harmony said as she pressed the elevator controls.
The doors closed and began descending.
Gwen turned and looked at Spike. “Looks like we’re about to have some fun.”



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