Kelvin swayed backward, the poison blade missing by a hair's breadth, and used the infiltrator's forward momentum against him. Kelvin's short sword swept low, aiming not to kill but to disable.
The blade caught the infiltrator's lead leg just above the ankle—a precise cut that severed the tendon.
The infiltrator's leg collapsed. He went down hard, training keeping him rolling to avoid follow-up strikes, but the damage was done. He couldn't run on that leg.
Meanwhile, the other two infiltrators were fighting their own desperate battles.
The second infiltrator had produced a second crossbow and was fighting two-weapon style, firing bolts at point-blank range while defending with a short blade. He'd killed four defenders already—two with crossbow bolts, two with his blade—but he was being pushed back by sheer numbers.
An orc warrior with a battle axe charged in with a overhead strike designed to cleave the infiltrator in half.
