She slid away from the knife as it came down, rocking back so that it found empty air above her knee rather than her thigh, as intended. A careful sweep of her leg followed, to put it out of range entirely before he got the bright idea to keep going, to try and plant the thing in her calf, and then she rocked forward, half-turning, her tail lashing out.

If she was lucky, she'd manage to loop the thing around his ankle and pull his feet out from under him; if not, no great loss. Either way, however, the move probably made it glaringly obvious that the tail was for more than just balance.