/lit/ - Literature

Why did K. catch the knife?
”The old man’s left hand forsook his right sleeve, bearing a watery knife. And like a rope in water, his arm pitched outward, fingertips trailing across the blade as the knife swung languidly into the air, the sun skating and the dark shrine plunging across its mirror back . . . And the place where Kellhus had once existed extended an open hand—the blond hairs like luminous filaments against tanned skin—and grasped the knife from stunned space.”
What darkness was it that caused this “place called kellhus” to attempt to save itself. why was it not remarked upon? What was the purpose of the knife chuck?