Steven did not understand what the man meant, but someone soon stepped forward.
It was a middle-aged man with black hair. He walked up to the man.
The man with the cane regarded him approvingly. "You are brave, offering your soul for judgment, wishing to serve our goddess before she awakens."
As he spoke, the man with the cane placed its handle between the black-haired man's outstretched hands, then cupped the man's palms in his own.
Holding him in his hands, devoutly...
Ahem. Devoutly, he began reciting an incantation.
"In Ammit's name, I judge you with but a fraction of her power..." As he chanted, the lower end of the cane began swaying beneath the black-haired man's palms.
Meanwhile, Steven craned his neck to look and noticed a black tattoo of a pair of scales on the man's right forearm.
Those scales were swaying too!
What astonished Steven most was that the tattooed scales swayed in exactly the same direction and at exactly the same rate as the cane!
Suddenly!
The tattooed scales stopped swaying, and the cane stopped moving too.
Both settled into balance.
The man with the cane glanced down at his arm, and his smile widened.
His gaze on the black-haired man became almost "tender," and even his voice grew excited.
"This is the face of a good man!" With that, he pulled the man into a tight embrace.
The black-haired man blinked in disbelief. A second later, he was sobbing uncontrollably in the other man's arms.
"Thank you, thank you! Boo-hoo..."
The people gathered around them began applauding.
Frowning in utter confusion, Steven gave a couple of token claps too.
Something's wrong. Something is seriously wrong here. Have I stumbled into some sort of cult ceremony?
Sensing trouble, Steven wanted to slip away, but when he