Down below...

Aster landed by the innocuous mound of dirt, stumbling a little in the gathering darkness. Bowen scrambled to his feet, pressing up against her back. She gave him a shove, "Would you give me space to fold my wings! Mother preserve, there's nothing out here that would attack either of us! I've spent practically my entire life on the ground." She frowned, "Sort of. Ok, stand back."

She raised her hands above the loose soil, gathering the magic into a swirling vortex in front of her. Bowen looked on in wonder, fear momentarily forgotten, "You're just gonna open the portal? You can do that?"

Aster smiled, enjoying the awe in his voice, "I'm gonna knock. Watch your eyes." She directed her hands down and the magic followed, sending a low vibration through the earth as it pressed in through the mound, kicking up flecks of mud and dust. The twilight grew still, gradually darkening into night as the two waited. Bowen spoke up after several minutes passed.

"That was really cool."

"Thanks."

He was close enough behind her that she could smell his spicy scent, underlaid by something... musky. She took a deep breath, leaning back against him, before tensing up and scowling.

"What's wrong?"

"I can smell her on you."

"What?"

"That tart with the nipple straps. I can smell her on you." The floral scent wasn't unpleasant but to her it was cloying, somehow smug if such a thing were possible. It sank a pit of deep, unreasoning jealousy inside her.

"Aster, I swear I didn't-"

Aster spun and grabbed the stupid plant, pressing up against him and mashing her lips to his. His crotch responded before his mouth did and she rewarded it by wrapping her leg around his waist, only his tunic preventing skin-on-skin.

The low rumble of dirt behind her interrupted the kiss and Aster stepped back, straightening her dress, leaving Bowen shellshocked with an unmistakable erection. She turned to see the molehill collapsing in on itself, the earth shifting to reveal a hole into darkness. Aster snapped her wings out, their soft glow shedding a pale yellow light on their surroundings.

"Alright, let's get this over with."

The odd couple spent several minutes plodding through mushy burrows before dropping down into a well-packed tunnel. "I doubt the corruption sunk this far, the gnomes should be thinking clearly."

"Have you ever talked with them before?"

"Once, a few dozen seasons ago. There was a dispute over root space they were involved in."

"Huh... How do you feel about being underground?"

"Fine. Why?"

He shrugged, "Just figured maybe, with the wings... I dunno, I'm glad you're ok."

Aster nodded, walking ahead. Truth be told, she really didn't like being under all this earth. She could feel it pressing down over her... this wasn't her realm. Every so often she'd see a root sinking through the roof and she felt a little better. If she could see the plants, she wasn't beyond help.

She was beginning to wonder where the earthen fey were when she heard a scuffling in the darkness ahead. At the very edge of her vision, two tiny pinpricks of reflected light peered at them.

"What brings you to my home, fair folk?"

The voice is quavery, squeaky even. Not at all like she remembered. Out of the darkness, shielding its eyes with a tiny claw, skittered a vole-like creature. Bowen let out a breath, almost a chuckle, smiling at Aster. He'd clearly been expecting something more intimidating.

Aster's brow furrowed in confusion, "That's not a gnome Bowen, they look like you but bigger and..."

"Uglier?" The little creature, who would have been minuscule compared to even the smallest mouse, almost seemed to smile at her. "The eyes only see skin deep."

Aster was nonplussed and the three stared at one another for a long moment, "... sooo, could you tell me where to find the gnomes? Preferably their leaders?"

"You're looking at 'im."

More staring, "... I don't believe you."

The little creature tittered, rolling on the ground in laughter, "ohohoh! I know! That's why it's so funny! Hahaha!"

Roughly half an hour later, Aster was ready to throttle the little animal, who stubbornly refused to give up the ruse. She actually started towards it before Bowen caught her arm and took her aside, "Um, maybe I should try talking to it?" Too angry to argue, Aster waved her hand irritatedly, "Fine. Do it."

The tiny creature watched benignly as Bowen approached, "Um... Hi."

"Hello."

"My name's Bowen, what's yours?"

"Call me Chomsky."

"Nice to meet you. So... uh... Chomsky, there's a problem up above, some giant's been poisoning the river and it's been seeping into the ground and affecting the fairies-" Bowen spent several minutes explaining the happenings of the day to the small beast, who groomed its whiskers throughout.

When he finished, the mini-vole was quiet for a moment before nodding sagely, "That sounds in line with what we've been dealing with."

Aster perked up, "What? You know about this?"

"Did you really think the Gnomes wouldn't notice when a contaminant was added to the glades primary water source? It's been leeching into the ground all winter, we were coordinating with the winter fey to stem the flow above and below ground but-" it shrugged sadly, "-spring."

Chomsky turned to Aster, squinting from the light of her wings, "I'm sorry to hear about your sisters. If it's as bad as you say then things are truly dire. The gnomes are a bit resistant and we have alternate water supplies but we can't hold out indefinitely. We need to stop the corruption at its source. We will do what we can in the beneath, when you have need of us we will come to your aid."

The rodent turned, skittering off into the darkness. Aster called out after it, "Wait! How will we communicate with the Gnomes?!"

The thing turned and suddenly it wasn't a vole anymore. Or tiny. Somehow the little shape unfolded, shifting in such a way that it had always seemed to be a massive, squat humanoid, grey skinned and bearded. Like they'd seen it from a weird angle from far off that made it look like a rodent. He smiled down at them from the edge of the light, in a voice now deep and gravelly, "We'll be in touch."

Bowen helped Aster up out of the hole and it collapsed in on itself, once more appearing as an unassuming molehill. They were quiet for a moment. Then Bowen fell over laughing, "Hahahaha! Y-you had no idea they could shape shift-AHAHAHA!" Aster gave him a sour look, waiting impatiently for him to get himself under control. What should their next step be... she supposed they should probably reach out to the Sylphs, just to round things out.

"Damned Gnomes..."

This sent Bowen off on another tirade of laughter before Aster threatened to leave him on the ground in the dark.