The Following Storm

Prologue

Harper And Harvey stepped out of the spaceship. They'd arrived on the planet Karhawk, excited to do the work God had called them to do as missionaries to the crystalers, beings that mined crystals from the metal mountains. It wasn't very dangerous, unlike the mines on Earth. God had called Harvey and Harper to this planet and they wanted to spread his word.
Crystals, they found out their third day on Karhawk, were used mainly in gyuns. Crystals absorbed the element they were near based on the shape they were cut into. If the shape of a flame, they were water-type. If in the shape of a bird, they were wind-type. If in the shape of a circle, they were rock-type gyuns. If in the same shape of the barrel of the gyun, they were fire-type.

Harper and Harvey met a young teenager three years into their ministry who had two strange shaped gyuns and strange shaped crystals. She allowed them to stay the night at her camp. Harper and Harvey told the group, the majority was men, about the Lord and she got saved that morning. They gave her a Bible but didn't ask about her gyuns.
Two and a half years later, they met her again. She was arresting someone when she looked up and saw Harper and Harvey. They decided to put their plans on hold of meeting their families at Mantees-ibin, a town that had the largest population of crystalers. 
She introduced herself as Red Arrow and gave Harvey and Harper a tour of the area after sending a stone through the planet's version of a post office. It was called a Shickter and was a building used to send and sell message stones. Message stones were made out of the metal crystals were mined from. They could either be used to record a voice or words. Someone saw the image of someone and heard their voice; or got images of words and read instead.
The man behind the counter took Red's message stone and then placed it into a bag that was full of other message stones.
Harper and Harvey asked her about it and she said, "It's how we send our messages."
"No, why do they place them in a bag and how do they know who they go to?" Harper asked. 
"Maybe God tells them," Red answered with a smile, and then headed to the holding.
"We've seen many creatures while on this planet. Could you help us name a few?" Harper asked. Red nodded. "We saw a creature with four legs, three tails, two horns, and one head. It was very ugly and terrifying looking. What is it?" Red giggled at his description.
"Sounds like a wreek," Red replied. "Try to stay away from them. They're dangerous."
"What do they eat?" Harvey asked.
"They're carnivores and they travel in herds."
"Why?" Harper asked. "I mean if they are so dangerous, why would they need to travel in a herd?"
"Have you seen an ogris?" Red asked. Harper nodded but Harvey shook his head. "Ogrises are very big. They're bigger than a pincanto. Ogrises and wreeks are natural enemies; and wreeks prefer ogris meat. Since ogrises travel in herds, wreeks travel in herds."
"What's an ogris?" Harvey whispered to Harper. They'd arrived at the holding and Red had entered. However, Harper and Harvey had stopped just outside the gate.
"Those huge bear looking creatures," Harper replied. "Remember? We saw an Incain riding one once."
"Incains are...?"
"The beings that have dark brown skin and black, straight hair," Harper replied, walking into the holding. Both walked to their creatures and led them outside.
"What other creatures have you seen?" Red asked, mounting a dragon-like creature with spikes along its neck and rear. It had four legs but only used its back two when it was running. It was rumored that a plate of armor underlined their belly as protection, but Harper and Harvey couldn't get their pincanto to stand still long enough for them to check. The one Red was riding was black. Harper rode a purple one with orange spikes; and Harvey rode a gray one with pink spikes.
"What are you riding?" Harper asked.
"The same thing you two are," Red replied with a smile.
"What is it called?" Harvey asked.
"His name is Apache. He's a pincanto," she replied. "What else?" They mounted their pincantos and left town, Harper and Harvey were following Red.
"Okay, next is a horse-like creature with no eyes. It has two ears, two nostrils, four legs, and both mane and tail look like they're on fire. Plus its entire body is blue. We've noticed they travel in herds; however, we've never seen one ridden before," Harper said.
"I do not know what you mean by horse-like, but those are konderikes," Red replied. Harvey and Harper looked at each other. "They are hard to tame so not many ride them."
"But I thought those were native to Appleless," Harper said.
"Apparently, before earthlings figured out that the land on Karhawk eats metal, a spaceship carrying a herd of konderikes and apple trees landed on our planet. The land ate the metal and the rest is all history," she said.
"How come you know so much?" Harvey asked. Red shrugged.
"My adopted dad had a whole library full of books with information."
"There are two creatures we've never seen but were told they do exist. However, we don't have very much to go off of," Harper said.
"Are they native to swamp lands?" Red asked. They were riding through purple, red, and patches of blue grass. The pincantos would take bites of the red grass. Harper found this fascinating and took out a notepad and wrote down the information. Red sighed and reached into one of her bags, she had two tied together hanging across her pincanto's back. She pulled out a book and handed it to Harvey. The title of the book was "Natives of Karhawk." It was written by "Jim Fire."
"This should tell you all about the creatures that are native to this planet. Try looking up Bladers and Leethers. They're located in the chapter about swamp creatures," Red said.
Harvey turned the pages until he came to the chapter Red had mentioned. Then he scanned through it until he came across "Bladers." He read the description and then showed it to Harper. It said, "Only thing ever seen of these creatures are their blade-like arms. They hide in the waters of the swamps. Use their blades to cut their prey with one kill cut. If they miss, they escape back into the water and wait for another chance or another prey."
"That's the same description we had," Harper said. "Now I have a question. How do they know these creatures have more'n one blade?"
"By the shape," Red replied. "After each attack, it switches to another blade if it misses. One man dodged death three times but was smart enough not to try a fourth time. He said the blades changed shape; and he was certain they became sharper and deadlier."
Harvey then turned the pages until he came to the description of "Leethers." He read, "No one has ever seen what a Leether truly looks like. They are night creatures and live in the swamp. Bladers and leethers are thought to sometimes prey on each other since both are hunters. Leethers blend really well with the land, where they live, and are very quiet. They have yellow eyes with crescent shaped black pupils."
"God is awesome, isn't he?" Red asked, smiling. Harper and Harvey smiled and nodded. "Well, here we are." They pulled their pincantos to a stop.
"Where are we?" Harper asked. They stared at the blue trees with pink, black, and gray fruit hanging from them. The trees grew straight and then their branches curved inward.
"The only place on planet Karhawk where you can see this many Apple trees at once," Red replied. They then watched as a herd of wild konderikes took care of the trees. The konderikes would walk to a tree and rub their necks against the trunk. Pieces of their mane would fall to the ground and change color.
"Konderikes eat blue grass?!" Harvey shouted in surprise. Red giggled.
"And pincantos eat red grass and ogrises eat purple grass. Didn't you already know that?" she said.
"What eats white grass?" Harper asked.
"Wreeks," she replied. "Where do you think they get their glowing white fur?"
"I thought they were carnivores," Harvey said.
"They are, but normally all creatures sleep during the Translucent seasons, except wreeks," Red explained. A wolf rode up to them on a pincanto and handed Red a message stone. "Thanks," Red said. He nodded and rode away.
"You never told us how they knew who to give those to," Harper said. Red smiled.
"How do you begin a letter to someone you know?" she asked.
"Dear so and so," Harper replied.
"Each message stone begins the same way. They listen to the beginning to determine who the stone goes to."
"How do they know where to find you?" Harvey asked.
"I don't know. I've never worked in a Shickter," she answered. She looked at the stone and then back at them. "I need to go. Will you two be okay?" They nodded and Harvey started to hand the book back to her. "No, you keep it," she said. Then she waved to them and rode away.
They watched her go and prayed they'd be able to meet her again. Only God knew that, the next time Harper and Harvey met Red Arrow, it would be their last.
"Hey look," Harvey said, showing Harper a picture of a bird, "it says dinhyers are black with beaks strong enough to peck through the bark of an everorange tree."
"Sounds and looks like a woodpecker to me," Harper said.
"However," Harvey continued, "it also says that a dinhyer's beak is lined with small teeth that allow it to eat the leaves of the everorange trees. It has pink eyes with orange circle-shaped pupils."
"Why does it have pink eyes?" Harper asked. Harvey shrugged his shoulders and closed the book with a thud. Then they turned their pincantos around and headed off to spread God's Word.