While Yasimina knelt in humble adoration, Doom stepped forward, raised his arms majestically, then abruptly turned his palms down. The chanting ceased upon the instant of the gesture. On the sepulchral silence that ensued, his resonant voice rose and fell, like the tolling of a bell.
  "Who amongst you fears the warm embrace of death? When I, your father, ask it, will you take life for me? Will you strike true to the infidel heart, whether it be the heart of friend, or lover, or loved one in your former life?"
  Pausing, he turned his hypnotic gaze on the entranced faces, upturned in ecstasy. "Doom!" they moaned, swaying in rhythm to the beat of his utterances. "Doom! Doom!"
  The catechism went on. "Will you slip the silken noose over the heads of Set's enemies? In the wide world, will you stay true, ignoring the blandishments of the leaders, judges, and parents who have taught you falsely? Will you clutch the hilts of your daggers and spill the heart's blood of the infidels, to give them the infinite benison of eternal peace?"
  Doom's magnetic eyes darted from face to face and held each follower in thrall. Now the questions ceased and the litany began.
  "You will feel naught but joy when you perform your duty to your god and lord, when you strike for Set and Doom, when the infidel bows before the blade, the cord, or the bowstring, accepting the inevitable. You will grow in love of the Dark Master, the Wise Serpent, in the embrace of whose coils lies eternal life and bliss unutterable; for the day of Doom is at hand, the day of the Great Cleansing."
  As the discourse proceeded, Doom's voice gained in intensity. He moved slowly down the dais steps and closer to his audience. With eyes transfixed, the votaries followed their leader's every move, until their unseeing gaze came to rest on Conan. The barbarian's primitive instincts alerted him to action, and he gathered himself for a leap to freedom.
  "Your parents deceived you; your teachers deceived you. Fool others as they seek to fool you!"
  Glaring directly at Conan, with hate-filled eyes, Doom shot out an accusing finger and addressed him:
  "Infidel, you are deceived as you sought to deceive me. On this day you shall die."