Dragal I: The Dragon’s Inheritance (264 pages) is the first in a series of novels that tell the story of Dragal, the Galician dragon seeking to reincarnate in the body of a boy, Hadrián. Four more titles have been published in Galician – Dragal II: The Dragon’s Metamorphosis, Dragal III: The Dragon’s Fraternity, Dragal IV: The Dragon’s Lineage and Dragal V: The Dragon’s Secret – and films of the novels, together with other multimedia content, are currently in production.

         At school, the maths teacher, Miss Ermidas, is handing back the pupils’ exams. When she gets to Hadrián’s desk, she gives him back his paper and Hadrián is delighted to see that he has got a 10. The stone dragon on the cornice of the nearby church of St Peter’s is also delighted and gives him a wink. Miss Ermidas has been worried about Hadrián ever since he arrived at the school after his father’s death. She can’t fathom how he managed to get such a high mark, but hopes that the wounds of his father’s death and his subsequent move from another city are starting to heal.

         Before moving to Galicia with his mother, Hadrián has only ever been on holiday. But when his father dies in an accident, he is forced to move there permanently. He is unpacking his things when his mother enters his new bedroom and hands him an amulet that used to belong to his father. On one side is a dragon in a threatening gesture, on the other what looks like the same animal incubating an egg. Six weeks into term, he notices images of the dragon on the capitals of the church next to his school, St Peter’s, and a larger effigy of the dragon on the cornice, which winks at him. When the history teacher, Mr Alberte, explains about the dragons on the church’s façade, Hadrián has already spotted about seven of them. When asked what a dragon is doing there, he says it’s ‘waiting for its moment to come’.

         Hadrián is searching for the medallion in his bedroom. When he finds it, he notices the tails of the dragon move. Frightened, he goes out of his bedroom to find his grandmother’s old Bible in the hope that this will protect him from whatever force is hidden in that medallion. During the night, he remembers a story his father told him when he was little about a dragon that lived in the village and harassed the local inhabitants. Some thought about the best way to kill the dragon, but others formed a secret order of knights with the aim of protecting the dragon’s magic.

         Hadrián stares at the dragon on the cornice of the church and doesn’t pay attention to the maths teacher’s explanations. When she asks him to come to the front and explain the solution to a maths problem, he finds that a voice in his head, that of the dragon, solves the problem for him. The maths teacher is again amazed at his ability. Hadrián visits St Peter’s and talks in his mind to the dragon on the frontispiece. He also receives answers. The parish priest, Father Xurxo, notices him standing outside and is intrigued. Hadrián explains that he is the grandson of Miss Xulia, one of the priest’s most devout parishioners before she died, and the priest remembers how he once healed a scrape on the boy’s knee. When Hadrián expresses an interest in dragons, the vicar takes him inside and shows him the ten dragon heads that adorn the double vault. On leaving the church, the boy is met by a classmate, Mónica, who reminds him he missed handing in a project they were supposed to have done for their language class.

         Hadrián explains the reason for his absence and Mónica accepts an invitation to complete the assignment at Hadrián’s house. After they’ve finished, she asks to see the medallion. Hadrián is initially unwilling, but then takes her upstairs to see it. Mónica is holding the medallion when the dragon’s tails move again. Hoping to find answers to the enigma of the medallion, Hadrián suggests visiting his great-grandfather’s old library in the house, where Mónica discovers an ancient manuscript called The Secrets of Alchemy. Under ‘D’, there is a description of a dragon and, when Hadrián returns to his bedroom, he finds the tails on the medallion have copied the illuminated initial in the manuscript.

         The maths teacher, Miss Ermidas, tries to reach out to Hadrián, warning him not to miss the train of his life. She’s been worried about him ever since he moved to Galicia following his father’s death. Hadrián is grateful for the gesture, but runs outside. Meanwhile, Miss Ermidas notices a whole series of geometrical forms and mathematical formulas scribbled on Hadrián’s desk. She asks the caretaker to ensure all the desks are cleaned by the morning. Mónica does some research on the Internet and comes across a pencil drawing of the dragon incubating an egg. When she prints it out, she discovers some text that says this is a reproduction of the medallion of the Grand Master of the Order of Dragal, dating to the eleventh century, but when she tries to find the image again, it appears to have disappeared as if by magic and doesn’t show up in search results. She now knows there is an Order of Dragal, which must be the order of knights who swore to protect the dragon’s magic. At home, Hadrián continues to peruse the ancient manuscript The Secrets of Alchemy, rereading the entry for ‘Dragon’ and discovering an entry for ‘Alchemy’, both of which refer to the Grand Master – the Grand Master of what? Hadrián leaves their maths class the next day without giving Mónica time to tell him about her discovery and revisits the Moor’s Pool, which he first visited as a child with his father. There were three pools. When he tried the water in the first two pools, it was freezing. His father then dived into the third pool, where the water was warm. He explained how an alchemist had come to the village, looking for the dragon. The alchemist had gone deranged and the dragon had kidnapped his beautiful daughter, keeping her prisoner in a cave under the water, but, when the dragon’s attention was diverted, the daughter had discovered the key to her prison, which she would give her champion together with the secret of the elixir of eternal life.

         Before their language class, Mónica goes looking for Hadrián in St Peter’s, where she meets the priest. He explains to her the symbolism of the images on the vault, which shows the Apocalypse, the Virgin and Child, and the dragon heads representing evil. He also hands her a book for them to read, A History of St Peter’s by Friar Paulo de Misteri. After class, Hadrián and Mónica arrange to meet at Hadrián’s house. She shares with him the pencil drawing and the book by Friar Paulo de Misteri, in which they discover there used to be a stone cross on the frontispiece, where the effigy of the dragon now stands, with an inscription in Latin that said ‘Crux sacra sit mihi lux. Non draco sit mihi dux’. They also discover there were catacombs under the church, where the earliest Christians worshipped, and that, having destroyed the first Christian church, the dragon took refuge in these catacombs. When the Order of Dragal undertook the rebuilding of the church, a bishop from the Vatican altered the original plans and had the representation of the Apocalypse, of the triumph over evil, installed on the vault. They decide they have to find out who then replaced the stone cross with the effigy of the dragon.

         Hadrián and Mónica discover that the local school bully, Brais, and his mates are spying on them, surveying their movements. In order to be able to talk to the priest in private, Mónica suggests Hadrián ask the priest for confession. The priest explains the meaning of the Latin inscription (‘Let the Holy Cross be my light. Let not the dragon be my guide’) and confirms the existence of the catacombs. He also promises to guide Hadrián to the start of his journey in the search for the dragon. On leaving the church, Hadrián is met by Brais, but manages to shrug him off. At home, Mónica prepares a map of the catacombs, using Friar Paulo de Misteri’s book, together with a list of the things they will need to go down to the catacombs. Hadrián arrives and tells her about his meeting with the priest. On the way to the bus stop, Hadrián is assaulted by Brais on his bike, but manages to recover. Hadrián and Mónica travel to the regional capital to buy the caving equipment in preparation for their descent. On their return, Hadrián goes to see the priest, who confirms the entrance to the catacombs is somewhere inside the church. This is where the followers of Dragal stored the dragon’s body. He also informs Hadrián that the Grand Master of the Order of Dragal is Hadrián himself, but the boy shouldn’t worry because the dragon will surely guide him.

         Hadrián asks his mother about his father’s accident. He died while visiting the caves near St Peter’s with his club, The Dragons in the Shadows. Hadrián imagines his father must have known about Dragal. He notices a crack in the egg the dragon is incubating on the reverse of the medallion. Hadrián and Mónica make their first incursion into the catacombs with the priest’s help. They reach as far as a crypt halfway through the tunnels and decide to turn back. It’s enough for one visit. After a maths exam in which the stone dragon helps Hadrián telepathically with the answers, they decide to make a second incursion that night. They meet outside the church, but, unbeknown to them, Brais has followed them. They become aware of his presence in the tunnel and Mónica lets out a loud scream, which causes a flock of bats to exit the tunnel and Brais’ candle to blow out. They leave Brais whimpering in the darkness and continue to the crypt, where the tunnel divides into two. As they are about to take the left fork, Hadrián’s rucksack catches on a metallic object and a boulder falls across the entrance to the crypt, blocking their way back to the church. They are trapped! Father Xurxo hears all the commotion and enters the church to find Brais weeping disconsolately on the steps that go down into the catacombs. Brais explains what has happened and Father Xurxo discovers there’s nothing he can do to help the others.

         Hadrián and Mónica try to find a way out via the cliffs and the medallion acts as a compass, the dragon’s tails pointing consistently west. But just as they think they have discovered the underground stream leading to the cliffs, the dragon’s tails on the medallion point the other way, to a grotto they understand to be Dragal’s temple. Mónica doesn’t want to go there, but Hadrián gives her a kiss and encourages her on. In the middle of the grotto is a round table. Hadrián realizes he has to place his father’s medallion in the opening in the centre of the table. After he does this, there is a tremor, the round table breaks in two and they discover a dragon’s skin, proving the existence of Dragal. One of the scales slips off and, when Hadrián picks it up, the hard substance turns into jelly and merges with his skin, producing a very intense pain. An ethereal body spinning in the air absorbs the skin and in a booming voice predicts that the prophecy of the dragon’s return is about to be fulfilled. Under the guidance of Hadrián, who has also started to talk in a booming voice, they reach an even more beautiful cavern where there are three pools of water. Hadrián has started turning into a dragon, his skin becoming scaly, his right hand metamorphosing into a claw, but when he dives into the water in search of an exit, because of the warmth of the water, the metamorphosis is momentarily halted and he manages to guide both of them out into the open. They hurry home in order to be in their bedrooms before their parents discover they are missing. Once out of the catacombs, Hadrián again has to struggle with the dragon, which wants to take control of his body and mind.

         Back at home, in the bathroom, Hadrián manages to transfer the dragon now inside him to the mirror. Dragal asks him what he’s doing. Hadrián explains that metamorphosis, as far as he is concerned, wasn’t part of the deal, but Dragal offers him power in return for his sacrifice. At school the next day, the police interrupt their English class to say there’s been a robbery in St Peter’s during the night and one of the culprits, Brais, has accused two other schoolchildren of being involved. When Hadrián and Mónica are interviewed by the officers, they insist they spent the night at home and the priest backs them up. They then visit the church, where a forensic expert is on the verge of discovering the secret entrance to the catacombs. They try to divert his attention. Father Xurxo admits he broke open the collection boxes, scattering coins on the ground, so that people wouldn’t realize the real reason Hadrián and Mónica were in St Peter’s the previous night. The forensic scientist, however, discovers bat excrement under the altar, which the priest explains away by revealing two horseshoe bats in the wardrobe where he keeps his vestments. The children return to school, but Hadrián realizes he is not going to be able to control the dragon inside him for much longer, he must get away. Mónica tries to persuade him to let her go with him, but he refuses, knowing that dragons are in the habit of devouring humans. Hadrián seeks refuge by the Moor’s Pool, where Mónica has promised to bring him some food in the evening. Here, Hadrián gives way to the dragon. The metamorphosis is complete. Dragal has taken control of his body, for the moment at least, and falls to thinking about its next meal. The dragon remembers that Mónica has promised to come to the pool in the evening, and that is when the next sacrifice will take place.

         The saga of Dragal has become a real phenomenon in Galicia since the publication of the first novel in 2010. With the imminent release of films and other multimedia content devoted to Dragal, it is likely this interest in the Galician dragon will only increase. Will Hadrián be able to retake control of his body and subdue the dragon, becoming lord of the secret of the Universal Panacea, as predicted in The Secrets of Alchemy? What role will Mónica and Father Xurxo have to play? Will the knights of the Order of Dragal spring to the dragon’s defence? In later instalments of this saga, all will be revealed.

Synopsis © Jonathan Dunne