There were two cities, called Enduia and Zaloss. They were connected by two roads, one of which went through the mountains in the north while the other went through the plains in the south. In the hills above the cities lived a wizard.

He lived alone, because people bewildered him. People, although they had endless diversity when it came to clothing and language and pleasure, were all fundamentally the same. Arrogant and thoughtless. Close-minded. Children were told to listen to their elders, when most of the time those elders were stupider than the children they presumed to teach.

As the wizard grew older, his cynicism ossified into hate. He felt superior to his fellow man, but as his hair became white and his joints became frail he realised that no amount of superiority would save him from dying.

Was there nothing in the world that lasted forever? Nothing that was not reduceable to atoms and ether?

An idea entered his head that was so revolting he could not get it out. A test of morality and goodness. After some thought, he decided to go ahead with it. He was a scientific man, and does a scientist do except test things?

***

A merchant and his son departed from Enduia to broker a trade agreement in Zaloss. They took the south road. Midway through their journey, they found themselves attacked and taken captive by a gang of robbers led by the wizard. They were tied and dragged into a thicket of trees so no other travellers would interrupt the proceedings. A gag was put on the son.

“I do not want your goods, or your coin.” The wizard told the terrified captives. “I merely want you to take part in a test.”

He took a knife from out of his ragged coat, and extended it hilt-first to the father. “I want you to kill your son with this knife. If do you, I will let you go free. If you do not, I will kill both of you myself. You have ten minutes to decide.”

The father laughed. Surely this was a joke. The wizard’s expression did not change, and a counterpoint of terror entered the man’s laughter. He raved and screamed. He shouted for help. The wizard took it all calmly, and said “you have five minutes.”

Sweat beaded on the man’s balding scalp. He was a fearful man. He could check his bed three times for spiders and still be convinced they were there. And the thought of dying at the hands of this lunatic was more he could bear…More than he could be expected to bear.

“God help me, I’ll do it.” He choked out. “Give me the knife.”

Two robbers untied his hands, and his son’s head was lowered into his lap. The boy was 12 years old, and would grow no older. He did not struggle. Gently, trying to keep his thoughts on the beautiful trees, the father cut his son’s throat. He could not look at his eyes.

“Well done.” The wizard looked at the father’s tear-streaked face. “…Or not. Either way, you are free to go.”

The father took off down the road, leaving his wares behind, still thinking about trees. He did not know how long he could keep doing it.

***

Some days later, a merchant and his son departed from Zaloss on a journey to Enduia. They took the mountain path, and soon found themselves the prisoners of a gang of robbers led by the wizard. They were tied and the son was gagged, and the wizard posed the same choice he had given to the father from Enduia. “Kill your son, so that you may go free.

The father’s initial reaction was the same. Disbelief, then forced disbelief, then horror. But he was a brave man, and refused to commit the apalling act.

“Think carefully,” said the wizard. “Your son will die no matter what happens. But you have a chance to save your own life.”

“Then I’ll die like a man. I won’t do it, damn you.”

“I accept your choice.” The wizard drew the knife and plunged it into the boy’s heart. The young lad spasmed, and the light faded from his eyes. The father cried out and collapsed. As he did, one of his ropes snapped on a rock. He scrambled to his feet and ran, leaving the severed rope behind.

The robbers tried to catch him, but he was too fast. He outdistanced them and then fled down the road back to Zaloss.

The robbers swore and cursed, but the wizard took all of this calmly. It had been his intention, after all, that the man escape. Who else would carry the tale?

***

The killings along the two roads soon came to the attention of the authorities, and search parties were dispatched to apprehend the murderers. Some of the robbers were captured, and under interrogation the full extent of the atrocities came to light, including the part the fathers had played.

The wizard watched everything. He wasn’t interested in the possibility that he himself could be arrested. That was all immaterial now. All we wanted to do was to observe the fathers, and find the answer to his riddle.

The Zalosian merchant became a small hero in his community. He had placed his son’s life above his own, had refused to take a knife to his own flesh and blood even if it had meant saving his own life. He was lauded. He became a sought-after party guest. He was awarded a medal.

But for the Enduian merchant, life had ended. His family disowned him, and his friends spoke to him no more. Wherever he went, whispering voices followed. He was the coward who had killed his son. No charges were brought against him, for what could he be accused of? Expediency? But now he was a pariah, shunned and abandoned.. One year after the tragedy on the road, he took his own life, hanging himself a rafter in his house.

The wizard had seen enough. The day after the Enduian merchant killed himself, he turned himself in to the authorities. His trial was short and tidy. His punishment was death.

But it was worth it, he reflected in his cell, the day before he was to be consigned to the flames. Now I know the truth about good and evil. Some say it comes from the gods, carried down from a mountain on stone tablets. Some say it’s a natural force in the universe, as intangible as light but just as real. But now I know differently. It exists in our minds.

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