The Painting

 

 

Some folk in the land of Kingdoms think ogres are rather nasty creatures who like nothing better than cooking you up and sucking the marrow from your bones. There are indeed some ogres who indeed like to do this, but there are also some who are quite civilized and enjoy a nice trout cooked in a garlic sauce and served with say… a fresh green salad.

 

These kind of ogres are also known to be art lovers. They like to own art galleries, write about art and judge art competitions. And because many of them love art so much it is only natural that they were in charge of the Kingdoms National Art Gallery.

 

It was on a fine morning in the town of Moon in the Kingdom of the Moon that three senior ogre art specialists gathered to discuss a certain painting. And joining them were three wizards of the Kingdoms Council of Wizards. This was a little odd as wizards didn’t normally concern themselves with art or artists.

 

The ogres present were Blood-Eye, president of the Gallery, Toad-Eye and Frost-Eye. The wizards were Seb-Sebek, president of the Kingdoms Council of Wizards, Bar-Bargi and Hul-Hulda. They were seated at a round table in the large, sunny room and tea had just been poured by a huge Rock Troll waiter. Rock Trolls are not only known as very good guards, but also as fine waiters and butlers.

 

Everyone helped themselves to the sugar, milk and cookies and then Blood-Eye cleared his throat.

 

‘Well, I’d first like to welcome our wizard guests to the meeting,’ he said, who like all arty ogres was dressed entirely in black… black turtle-necked sweater, black trousers and well polished black shoes. ‘I hope we can come to a mutual agreement regarding the painting.’

 

‘As do we,’ replied Seb-Sebek. ‘Shall we unveil it?’

 

Blood-Eye nodded at Frost-Eye who stood up and walked to one end of the room where an object was covered with a large white sheet. He carefully pulled the sheet away to reveal a large painting sitting on an easel. It was facing away from the table toward a large mirror that had been hung on a wall.

 

As Frost-Eye walked back to his chair, everyone else viewed the painting’s reflection. It showed a small group of people standing against a white background as if the painting had yet to be finished. There were two dark grey robed wizards, a Rock Troll dressed in a butler’s uniform carrying a silver tea service and a black robed witch wearing a black hat with bluebells stitched around its brim. There was also a small tan and white dog at their feet and all had rather startled expressions on their faces.

 

‘It’s a rather striking picture, isn’t it?’ Bar-Bargi said. ‘Very life like… though that’s not surprising considering its origin.’

 

‘Yes, the subjects have been captured remarkably well,’ agreed Toad-Eye. ‘Have you been able to identify who they are?’

 

The wizard Hul-Hulda nodded.

 

‘The wizard on the left is Nus-Nusuk and the Rock Troll is his butler, Benjamin. The other wizard is Tho-Thoth, a friend of Nus-Nusuk and the witch is a Mother Bluebell from a local Witchery.’

 

The group was silent for a few moments, each eyeing the painting thoughtfully and then Blood-Eye went on.

 

‘Well, as far as the Kingdoms National Gallery is concerned, the work is quite unique. We doubt that anything like it will be done again.’

 

‘We can only hope so!’ the Bar-Bargi said dryly. ‘What we have to decide is what to do with it.’

 

‘Indeed and let me say that whilst the Gallery is opposed to tampering with any kind of art… we are mindful of the problem this painting presents us,’ Blood-Eye said.

 

‘Yes, the fact that the subjects are in fact real people caught by the painting’s spell and slapped alive onto the canvas!’ Seb-Sebek said bluntly.

 

‘An unpleasant experience for them all I’m sure,’ Frost-Eye said. ‘Do we know whether they are in fact still alive?’

 

Bar-Bargi nodded.

 

‘Yes, they are,’ he replied. ‘We found some notes Nus-Nusuk made regarding the painting and apparently it was a joke he wished to play on Tho-Thoth. They have been playing magical practical jokes on each other for years it seems.’

 

‘So I take it that Nus-Nusuk was captured by the spell as he cast it?’ Blood-Eye queried.

 

‘Yes, that seems to be the case and rather careless too for such an experienced wizard I might add,’ Seb-Sebek said. ‘His butler was the next one, obviously entering the room with the tea service and looking at the painting. Tho-Thoth was next as he’d been invited to tea.’

 

‘And Mother Bluebell?’ Toad-Eye asked.

 

‘She was delivering a lotion to Nus-Nusuk for a rash he had,’ Seb-Sebek replied. ‘Luckily her apprentice was with her and saw her disappear into the painting and raised the alarm. There’s no telling how many people it might have captured if she hadn’t.’

 

‘And the dog?’ Frost-Eye asked.

 

‘That’s Nus-Nusuk’s,’ Seb-Sebek replied. ‘It wasn’t in the room at the time, but we wanted  to know what the spell’s range was. So we slipped it in and of course it ran toward the picture of his owner and was captured.’

 

‘And what is the spell’s range?’ Toad-Eye asked.

 

‘About ten feet,’ Hul-Hulda replied.

 

Everyone was silent for a few moments, all feeling quite sorry for the unfortunate folk and dog trapped in the painting.

 

‘But you say they can be freed from the painting?’ Blood-Eye asked.

 

‘Yes, we can reverse the spell,’ Bar-Bargi said. ‘Then the canvas itself can be destroyed as it’s too dangerous to leave just lying around.’

 

The three ogres bent their heads together in discussion for some moments and then Blood-Eye looked up.

 

‘The Gallery is still concerned that a very unique work of art will be lost if they are freed,’ he said.

 

‘Surely you can’t mean to leave them there forever?’ Hul-Hulda asked in shock.

 

Blood-Eye quickly shook his head.

 

‘No, we certainly can’t allow that, but we do have a request,’ he said.

 

The three wizards leaned forward, curious as to what it could be.

 

‘We want to keep the canvas,’ Blood-Eye stated.

 

‘But it’s dangerous!’ Hul-Hulda exclaimed. ‘Why would you want to keep it?’

 

‘It’s the style of painting that we admire,’ Frost-Eye replied. ‘Whilst these subjects will be freed, we hope at some time that another subject may pose for the canvas… on a more permanent basis.’