Steinbruch's gnomes.

Without intending to, Mutti built the perfect place for the gnomes to set up their village. The entrance would be hidden in the front yard of the Berger family's beautiful home. A beautiful lawn with a water fountain and a weeping willow adorned the front of the house, which was set back from the main road. At the foot of the fountain Mutti placed small ceramic pots. Different types of small wildflower plants sprouted from them. Between these pots the tunnel began to be dug.

The order was given by Twynn, having observed Mutti's exquisite care for her flowers. He had come to the conclusion that she was a good person.

The tunnel extended. It passed ten feet under the house, through the courtyard, where Mutti had ordered a greenhouse to be built for his prized ferns, and ended at a small hill the locals called Steinbruch. Twynn was two hundred years old, a sage in the full potency of his priestly exercise among "The Children of the Great Blue Camellia", a branch of the gnome species that has kept alive its language, and its function of safeguarding plants, since the time of the first earthly flower buds.

With Twynn came a hundred gnomes, with their mining suits, lanterns and tools. They were followed by a hundred female gnomes, the gnomids. In stark contrast to the elderly features of their husbands, the Gnomids are females of singular beauty, always dressed in green and white, spreading the scent of camellias from their skins.

Under the guardianship of the fairies came the children of the gnomes. We all know that fairies have a particular fondness for children. The gnomes have always got on well with the fairies, even though they belong to different realms.

No human noticed the arrival of the gnomes, which is understandable since their ancient language, their way of conversing, although loud and cheerful, is inaudible to human ears because of their familiarity with many sounds of nature, the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, the chirping of birds and the murmur of water, for example.

No humans noticed the subtle differences in the position of the boulders in Steinbruch, nor the slight trails that the tiny steps were marking in the earth. After finishing the main tunnel, through which they introduced their larger objects, they opened from the promontory a series of small tunnels in different directions that allowed them to appear and disappear in an instant as if by magic.

In fact, after some time they had a thriving and stable underground village. The entire surrounding nature was nourished by their presence. Trees grew healthy and strong and animal activity became more lively. From time to time the Gnomes came into the Berger's house to admire the immense spaces of the house, to look through the oldest books and to take the smallest coins, lost in the cracks, to build their plates and bowls.

So they lived in peace for ten human years until one day, attracted by the smell of biscuits wafting from the house, Twynn, Dlynn, Skatl and Pilz witnessed something they had never seen before.

As Mutti placed the fragrant biscuits on a plate, crystal clear water came out of her eyes. The gnomes looked at Twynn, questioningly. He, for his part, stared at the woman, trying to remember, among his teachings, something that might explain what was happening.

When the woman left the kitchen, Dlynn, Skatl and Pilz made it to the table where the tray of biscuits was. "Wait for me at the Moon Gate. Gather the higher-ups. Twynn said, then sharpened her ear and began to follow Mutti. Hiding here and there, he watched her climb the steps to Lise's room. Before entering, Mutti pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and dried her eyes. Twynn slipped between her legs and entered the room with her.

Now Mutti was smiling in the direction of Lise's bed. Twynn used the curtains in the room to climb up them so he could look at her. The girl was sick, breathing slowly, unable to move, and barely opened her eyes when her mother arrived.
The gnome took a long look at her from his hiding place. He thought.

He decided to approach the girl child. He waited patiently for her mother to come out with the plate of biscuits, climbed down the curtains, climbed up the sheets, slid over the mattress gently and reached her face. With her knowing fingers Twynn touched the girl's skin and caught the scent of her body. With his eyes closed he searched for that scent in his two hundred year old memory.

The smell took him back to a time long ago when he was a child and in his village the gnomes were bustling about in their haste to leave the village. He remembered his father's words in front of the assembly. "First they finish off the humans, who are weaker... then they will come for us. In Twynn's memory, the image of the goblins began to appear.

Before leaving the room, he touched Lise's forehead with both hands, mumbling a phrase several times. The girl took a deep breath, opened her eyes and looked him straight in the face. Twynn looked at her with his old smile and said in her human language, "I'll send you to the fairies. Then he hurried off. He had to organise his village against an invasion of evil goblins.

At the moon gate the eight senior gnomes were waiting for him. Twynn led them quietly to safety among the stones. After telling them of Lise's plight and reminding them of the duty of the lineage of "The Children of the Great Blue Camellia", he asked them to organise a strategy. If they wanted to keep their lands, they had to defend themselves and protect the humans from the goblins.

The first thing was to be sure of the type of goblins they faced. If they were the colourful mutant goblins, with forked tails, sharp teeth and long nails, they had to prepare for hard times. Today they should get a good night's sleep. They would start tomorrow.