he tried to stab Noen.
Noen's eyes flew open and, at the very last moment, he made a sudden leap backwards. The strike only cut through the air in front of his chest.
"What the hell has gotten into you?!" he shouted, out of breath.
"Shut your damn mouth!" Thel snapped.
In a fluid, almost unnatural motion, he pulled his arm back and hurled the knife at Noen.
Noen threw himself to the side. A split second later came the impact — a sharp, clattering sound as the knife struck the roof tiles and then slid down the slanted tiles into the depths, disappearing.
Noen gasped, his hands shaking. Breathing heavily.
"Are you insane?! You could seriously—"
But he didn't get to finish the sentence.
Before he could even fully straighten up, he saw it again: A tear separated itself from Thel's face, remained floating in the air… and began to change. It thickened. Solidified. Became a second knife.
"No, no, no…" Noen whispered.
Thel threw it.
Too fast.
Noen dropped down, only feeling the rush of air directly above his head as the knife missed him and clattered across the tiles behind him.
And then there was a third.
Thel charged forward.
His gaze empty.
Wild.
Noen jumped up, ran, sprinted across the roof, leapt off the edge, landed awkwardly in a narrow alley — and kept running, blind with panic, straight through the tight streets of the city.
Behind him came a dull impact. Footsteps. Too fast.
Then that sharp hissing through the air again —
A knife shot past him and grazed his arm.
A burning pain shot through him, but he didn't stop. He kept running, almost tripping over a basket, knocking over a crate and charging straight through the market as people jumped aside in shock.
"What's going on?!"
"Hey! Watch out!"
Noen didn't hear them.
All he heard was his own breath — frantic, desperate — and the footsteps behind him.
"M–m– mini god powers…?" he gasped as he ran. "T–that… that can't be…"
Tears blurred his vision.
He is my friend…
— Am I going to lose him too? —
The thought tightened around his throat for a moment.
He turned into a narrow alley.
And came to an abrupt halt.
A wall.
No exit.
Dead end.
His breath came in sharp bursts. His heart hammered so loudly in his chest that he could barely hear the footsteps approaching.
Slowly, he turned around.
And saw Thel coming closer.
Two knives in each of his hands — and one even clamped between his teeth.