Shale slipped out of the cavern, tumbling around the rocks beneath the waterfall. They knew how to stay out of sight, it was how Gnomes survived. The trick was to look natural, think like a rock, fall like a rock.

The communication among the three went unspoken, they had one job, and they were determined to get it done. The gnome in the lead slipped from shadow to shadow, the two others close behind. They stopped at the edge of the rocks, looking at the tall golden grasses before them.

This probably wasn't barley, it's not a mission if it’s easy. Shale slipped a couple of the grass seeds into the backpack, just so mum could narrow it down if they couldn't find the right thing. Shale drifted off to the side where Shale and Shale were waiting in the shadow of a fallen tree. They dashed off again, running in a long winding line following the river, away from the falls.

The sun was still fairly low, the shadows still long. A light breeze shifting the dry leaves in the trees hid the patter of little feet that were doing their best to stay unheard. Squirrels and birds either didn't notice or didn't care when those feet dashed along mossy logs or rustled hidden twigs. As the sun rose higher, the damp from the dew left the forest floor, the smells of rich forest soil rising with it.

Shale was moving slower now as the drying leaves started to crunch underfoot. They stopped suddenly. There was a fluff angrily waving back and forth in the clearing in front of them. It looked like it wanted a scuffle, the way it moved so quickly and crunched so loudly.

The fluff suddenly dashed up the tree, dragged by the end of squirrel it was firmly attached to.

Shale moved with even more care, now on the lookout for more fluff traps in leave piles. They were not about to let any leaf diggers trick them into disappointing mum with unnecessary scuffles.

The hills were the hardest. Climbing them was easy, even the rocky little cliff that they had to navigate. Shale was very good at climbing, clever fingers able to cling to the smallest handhold. When handholds failed, shale was able to make a handhole with bare hands, focusing their magic, pushing the rock away like it was clay.

The hardest about hills was going down. Gnomes loved to roll down hills, crunchy leaves added to the experience. Unfortunately, Shale was on a mission of silence, but they made a note of the hill for when the dungeon wasn't in dire need of barleys.

As they made their way through the woods, they picked up what matched mum's description. A dead beetle, a button mushroom, an acorn that was extra golden, different seeds, a small berry. All went into the backpacks.

It was midafternoon when they made it through the forest. They could have made it in half the time, but they were on a sneaky mission today. Out in front of them, on both sides on the steep rocky banks of the river, were fields of plants. Surrounding the fields of plants was a fence of rough-cut wood, two long boards bridging the spaces between the posts.

Shale stopped and had a conference in the hollow at the base of a giant old oak on the edge of the clearing.

"It looks like we found the place"

"no scuffles along the way or anything"

"These plants don't look right though'

It was true, they looked out at the nearest field, the plants were little stunted stalks, barely as high as the gnomes. As they stood considering what to do next, the sun was suddenly shadowed. The three gnomes looked up without moving a muscle. A large fuzzy head with two fuzzy horns was staring right at them.

Medium gray Shale was the closest to the monster, ever so slowly the flint dagger was drawn without breaking eye contact. Moving with all the swiftness of a cloud drifting through the sky, the dagger reached out and poked the monster between the eyes.

Mum would have been proud at all the willpower they gained over the last half day. Shale normally would have started a big ol scuffle with this monster, but this was a sneaky mission.

The monster squealed and dashed off. Shale peeked their heads outside the hollow.

"We've been discovered"

"No way but forward"

Shale dashed across the strip of grass next to the woods, under the fence and into the field of crops. The leaves were too small to hide all three, they had to split up and hide next to different stalks as they traveled. They only moved when there was no animals or birds nearby. It took more time than it should have to slip across the field. They were on high alert, watching for an army of fluff demons coming for revenge.

It was late afternoon by the time they made it into better cover. Before them was the tall yellow stalks they were looking for. They cut down a couple with the flint knives and harvested the seeds. A half backpack later they headed off to the side, moving parallel to the field with little stalks, staying inside the shelter of the tall yellow forest.

As they continued, they saw a cabin in front of them. The cabin was made of round river stones, capped by a tall roof tiled with wood slats. It had a small windmill propped by four metal poles rising from it. The narrow dark glass windows were set deep into their openings, shutters were open. The whole thing was a little bigger than mums two rooms.

The cabin sat on the edge of the crops, with a field of open grass in front of it to provide a barrier between it and the woods. A small garden of flowers and thorns created a break in the field, a stone path winding through leading to a simple stone well. The long fence curved around the house to include it into the protection given to the fields.

A little farther past the cabin was a road, tall two-legged animals were moving along it, most were carrying or pulling things. A large wood and metal monster whirred along beside the animals, round eyes on the sides never blinking, mean looking metal wheels kicking up bits of road. Rising up from the middle of the monster’s body was another mean looking wheel, this one spun slowly along in the air, not seeming to do anything. Another two-legged animal sat on the front of the body, holding onto a harness controlling the whole beast.

Shale wasn't about to go anywhere near the road.

The sun was beginning to get low, and Shale knew it was about time to head back. Shale could see in the dark just fine, but the deeper the dark the deeper the danger. Shale dashed up to the small cabin, hiding behind some wood stacked next to a door.

"Maybe we should head inside quick"

"A little lookabout to see if mum needs what's there?

"Only if nothin is moving around"

Dark gray Shale climbed the woodpile to get to the simple wooden handle, Light Shale and Medium Shale looking out of the pile on either side. The latch wouldn't move. Sounded like something was stuck inside the little hole under the latch. After digging in the hole with a nimble hand for a while, the latch moved and the door opened.

The inside of the room was dark and full of shadows. It looked like it was a house, there was the usual bed, table, shelves and fireplace among other knickknacks, debris and various barrels. The only sound inside was a slow creaking coming from the windmill spinning a metal pole that ran down into the house. Several objects were loosely connected to the pole with belts or teeth, none of them were moving right now.

Shale jumped off the pile and joined the others as they dashed into the room and right under the bed, finding cover among the many little things under it. After nothing came after them they spread out into the house.

They searched high and low.

"Here is a whole bunch barley looking things!" Shale remarked, digging through the small food cupboard.

"Cor! look at this!" Shale held up a gold coin "The other ones are silver and copper, but this here is gold!'

"Found something for mum!" Shale held up an iron folding knife with a running wolf carved on the side.

Everything found a place in the bags which were getting full. This disappointed shale as the sock found under the bed wouldn't fit.

They all froze as they heard footsteps outside the door. It was a two-legged animal! They ran under the bed and found hiding places as the door opened, the animal muttering about forgetting locks.

The animal entered the room and started doing two-legged animal things. Muttering, stinking, moving things around and eating. The animal moved over to one of the drawers where the bag with the metal discs was. There was a flash of more metal as it fell silently into the small bag. The animal stopped, shook the bag, then spun to the bed and dumped it out.

The animal roared. Shale new the metal things were missed. They hid the best they could as the animal shook the room with its frantic search. They had a close call when it moved the bed out a little and looked behind it, they had to scramble around to the other side of things as eyes searched everywhere. Eventually the animal gave up and fell asleep on the bed. Shale decided not to move until the animal left, this was a scuffle they couldn't win if they wanted to.

The morning eventually came, and the animal was extra loud as it did it's two-legged animal things. Eventually it left, muttering a dangerous curse on whoever took its gold. Shale held their collective breath, but the curse didn't take hold.

Dashing out after the area was clear, they headed back to the cave. Mission accomplished, they avoided any more adventures and made it back along the fastest route.

Mum met them as they entered the cave. They wasted no time in telling her about their journey, going into great details on how they bravely avoided scuffles.