[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-saya-and-the-dragon":3,"chapter-saya-and-the-dragon-saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-42":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Saya and the Dragon",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1705229,2177,"Chapter 39: Exit, Pursued by Absolutely No One","saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-42",42,"\u003Cp>Okay. So maybe I got carried away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Itwassupposed to be hand-to-hand combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They lined us up in the circle, all ceremonial and self-righteous, talking about “discipline of the body,” “unity of the sisterhood,” “honoring the sacred pact of non-lethal engagement,” blah blahblah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And sure, they picked me to go first. Again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because nothing says “learning opportunity” like throwing the mouthy one to the wolves in front of an audience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Untilshestepped into the ring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The one who’s made it her personal mission to break me since day one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, in my defense — and this is important — she had ablade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe ceremonial. Maybe not. I wasn’t sticking around to get filleted and find out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So yeah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe I bit her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right on the hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You want blood, I’ll give you blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Andmaybeshe screamed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Andmaybeshe dropped the dagger. Andmaybethey had to bandage it with clean cloth and mutter about possible infection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But come on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one said biting was off-limits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one handed me a list.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one said\"Sister Steel, please ensure your self-defense remains within the bounds of genteel martial arts drawn from scrolls written by virgin monks two centuries ago.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this had been Seebulba, I'd have gotten applause. Hell, if she’d been a man, I’d have followed up with a knee to the jewels and collected tips from the crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no. Instead they kicked me out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No ceremony. No final lecture. No flaming brand of shame pressed to my forehead. Not even a slap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just a grunt from Clarity — her hand still bandaged, by the way — and a gesture toward the hilltop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go,” she said. “You’re more trouble than you're worth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So now here I am.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing barefoot on a rocky, windswept ridge in the middle of fucking nowhere. Wearing that godsdamn short linen skirt that rides up when I breathe, a goatskin of lukewarm water slung over my shoulder, and clutching a dagger so small it wouldn’t scare a squirrel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They didn’t even return my sandals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well… fuck,” I mutter, squinting at the horizon like it personally offended me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not the first time someone’s given up on me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not the first time I’ve been left with nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least this time, no auction block. No collar. No shackles. Just freedom, served cold and solitary on a bed of dust and rocks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I spin slowly, scanning the endless scrubland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They went east. I saw the banners vanish into the haze at sunrise. Full procession. Singing. Marching. Victory chants echoing like self-congratulation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Good riddance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>North? Mountains. Jagged. Snowy. I’m not in the mood to freeze to death today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>West? Too quiet. Too flat. That’s where you go to disappear and not in the good way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>South?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe the sea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe two days’ march.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe a month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe starvation and a dramatic, skeletal collapse that some shepherd will find and assume was a poorly-dressed prophetess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tighten the strap of the goatskin. Tuck the useless dagger into my belt. Spit once, for luck. Then take a breath. And start walking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>South.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because what else is there?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dry hills rolled on forever, dotted with thornbrush and regret. The sun burned overhead like it had a personal grudge. My feet were bleeding, my thighs were chafed raw, and the goatskin tasted like boiled goat sweat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had no idea how long I’d been walking. Hours? A day? Time was a vague blur of dust and curses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then I heard it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whomp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Low. Heavy. Air bending under ancient wings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Didn’t look up. Just kept walking, slower now, muttering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whomp-whomp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wind shifted. Loose stones rattled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thenthud. A gust of warm air hit my back, full of scales and smugness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There he was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Dragon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Big. Black. Gleaming. Sitting like a guilty dog that’d just pissed in your shoes. Wings half-folded. Eyes cautiously unreadable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, well,” I said, hands on hips. “Look who remembered he has acompanion.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He blinked. Slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You look… alive,” he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You looklate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He snorted. “I would have come sooner, but I—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But you what?Took a nap? Went antiquing? What, you smelled smoke and figured I was already toast so why bother?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He scratched at the dirt with one claw, sheepish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was… observing. From a distance.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh gods.” I threw my arms up. “Unbelievable. I get snatched by a cult, half-starved, turned into a barefoot war mascot, andyouwere ‘observing’? Were you taking notes?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ithoughtyou escaped,” he said defensively. “Which, by the way, well done. I knew you’d wriggle out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I narrowed my eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t try to spin this like you had faith in me. Youabandonedme.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I wasfollowingthe horde,” he snapped. “From a safe distance. You think I didn’t see them? The griffons? The ballistas? They madedrumsout of my cousin. I’m not getting skinned for your character arc.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I flinched. The words hit harder than expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tilted his head. Voice lowered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They… kicked you out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t a question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned away. Shoulders stiff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine. Yes. They did.” My throat tightened. “Even the Sisterhood gave up on me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just the wind, the dust, the sound of me swallowing down something sharp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I didn’t.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned. Slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t look smug now. No smirk. No sarcasm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I didn’t give up on you, Saya,” he said, quietly. “I followed. I waited. I knew you'd get out. I just… didn’t know how broken you’d be when you did.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sniffed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looked away again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…You got anything to eat?” I muttered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He smiled. A little.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Always.”\u003C\u002Fp>",927,"2026-06-06T14:39:25.900Z",1,"novelbin.me","72deba802a0b51d91b57bbb3c087a83f32296c6f0a729061b87734f749316adb","saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-43","saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-41",228,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsaya-and-the-dragon-cover.jpg"]