The unicorn was placed on a little elevation in the Stadium of Life the day the Games began. Hushed singing of the national hymn, the Anthem of the Unicorn, opened the festivities. Singerians were given their last chance to surrender their atheism and salute the great stone horse. Few did.

The events were divided into three separate games, each occupying about an hour. The first games were the Honor Games in which White Knights sought to defend their territory filled with atheists, while Black Knights tried to penetrate their lines and kill the rabble in the lime-chalked boundaries. The last White Knight with Singerians still alive was then declared the winner. Singerians not killed the first day became the victims of the next.

The second event was called the Truth Games. In games of Truth, knights of the unicorn advanced on foot to Singerians and offered them a final chance to recant and confess the true reality of mountain gods. One or two of those who huddled there did indeed recant. The rest were clubbed. The knight with the greatest number of “converts” was declared the winner. The “converts” were not many, but whenever a Singerian kissed the unicorn, a great cheer rose from thousands in the stands. Such Singerians were spared and loaded into carts and sold on auction blocks outside the stadium when the Games were over for the day.

The third event was called Life Games. In these contests, Singerians were given a short sword and the right to live until the morrow if they could kill the giant Tasman jackals. These beasts were set on them in pairs. Few survived. Sarkon was pleased most with these games which he himself invented for amusement. He was always in the stands, smiling over all the carnage of the Games.

The Builder felt a strange revulsion as he was seated in the Stadium of Life. He refused to sing the Anthem of the Unicorn and thought his protest went unnoticed in the multitudes of those around him in the stands.

The Games continued. Sarkon saw the Builder leave the stands before the main event. Misery dwelt in the Builder’s heart, and he wandered as far away from the stadium as he could. He finally stumbled on an old grotto covered with vines and broken beams. He entered in beneath the shade of afternoon and sat down silently. He buried his head in his hands and tried to forget that he was real. His soul, as much as it existed, was under evil subjugation. He wished, like mountain gods, that he was not.

After several minutes he became aware of men’s voices praying and singing. They were Singerians but somehow quite familiar. Suddenly he realized that Everyman and Anthem were in the grotto too. In a moment the Singerians were aware of him whom they had met so long ago.

Anthem spoke in both surprise and fear. “Peace, Sculptor! Are we now under state arrest? We have heard, Praxis, that you delight in murdering helpless children.”