Dragal, the last dragon

The dragons exist and are here among us.
They hide their tracks to avoid extinction and preserve their magic, but the memory of his presence among us, older than mankind persists worldwide.
Their finding among the archaeological remains of lost civilizations in ancient scrolls forgotten, on the stones of old ruined temples or sacred texts of all religions, is not an isolated and casualty.
Dragons are here among us. Waiting.
Between myths and legends, science fiction and history, the saga DRAGAL arises.
In its pages you can feel the magic of the last dragon. And you'll fly. Very soon.  

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 a film devoted to Dragal and other multimedia content, together with a planned fourth novel, it is likely this interest in Dragal, the Galician dragon, will only increase.

 See DRAGAL I: THE DRAGON’S INHERITANCE

After the death of his father in a caving accident, Hadrián is forced to move to Galicia with his mother and start at a new school.
His mother gives him a medallion that belonged to his father, showing a dragon in a threatening posture on one side and the same dragon incubating an egg on the other.
When the dragon’s tails move, the boy realizes this is no ordinary medallion.
Meanwhile, he has noticed the stone effigy of a dragon on the cornice of St Peter’s Church, which winks at him and infiltrates his thoughts.
The boy’s destiny, it seems, is to sacrifice himself so that the dragon can come back to life after an interval of a thousand years, during which it has been protected in the catacombs under the church.
The boy and his classmate Mónica will first have to locate the catacombs with the help of the parish priest, Father Xurxo, before they can ascertain whether the dragon’s existence is for real.

SMALL STATIONS PRESS Publications

 

Often described as the Galician J. K. Rowling, Elena Gallego Abad is the author of novels about Dragal, the Galician dragon seeking to reincarnate in the body of a boy.
The saga starring Hadrián, Mónica and Father Xurxo comprises three novels – Dragal I: The Dragon’s Inheritance (2010); Dragal II: The Dragon’s Metamorphosis (2011); Dragal III: The Dragon’s Fraternity (2012) – and further novels are planned.
A film, together with other multimedia content, is currently in production.

An experienced journalist, Elena Gallego Abad is the author of another novel, Seven Skulls (2014), which follows a journalist, Marta Vilas, as she investigates a case of multiple murder.

http://www.galicianliterature.com/elena-gallego-abad

Translated from Galician by Jonathan Dunne, DRAGAL I: THE DRAGON’S INHERITANCE by Elena Gallego Abad, is the fourth title in the series Galician Wave devoted to the best of Galician young adult fiction in English.

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Chapter 1 - THE SECRET

The dragon’s shadow was everywhere, even though Hadrián was the only one who could sense its presence. The power of Dragal would soon become manifest, but, for those who were not aware of it, it was just another day like any other.

All the pupils in the class were anxiously awaiting the arrival of Miss Ermidas with the marks from the maths exam. They knew, as always, she would enter the classroom two minutes after the bell rang.

Not a second before or afterwards.

The old teacher arrived on time, clutching her folder to her chest. She slowly draped her red cardigan over the back of her chair and, having greeted the children in the room, began to pass the exam papers around the desks.

‘Antón… no comment. We’ll see each other in September, and possibly next year as well.

‘Teresa… you could do a lot better.

‘Breixo… you have to use your head for something other than wearing a cap.

‘Antía… carry on like this. 8 out of 10.

‘Marta… on this occasion I was expecting a lot more than a mere pass.

‘Miguel… well, you scraped through, but that’s better than nothing.’

As the teacher continued walking past the desks, getting closer and closer to the back of the classroom, Hadrián stared out of the window. The rain beat against the windowpanes, but the boy was looking further away, at the façade of the old church of St Peter’s.

He found it where it always was, on the cornice, and smiled when old Dragal winked in a gesture of complicity.

The other pupils, unaware of the stone dragon’s movements, remained in absolute silence, watching their tutor’s every move. Miss Ermidas was also unaware of what was happening and carried on handing out exams until she got to Hadrián’s place.

The teacher then drew to a halt and placed the piece of paper, scribbled on both sides in the boy’s characteristically tiny handwriting, on the desk. In the upper margin, next to the pupil’s name, in red and highlighted by a large circle, appeared a ‘10’ that seemed to Hadrián as big as the world.

‘I still don’t know how you did it… I’m amazed,’ she said.

The boy’s face lit up with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. A ten! Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the silhouette of Dragal moving about on the cornice. Yes, the stone dragon was capable of reading his thoughts and was already informed.

Unable to focus his attention on the class, as soon as the bell rang, Hadrián was the first to get up from his seat, but he couldn’t leave the classroom as quickly as he would have liked. The teacher stopped him in his tracks by placing a hand on his shoulder in a gesture the boy could not avoid.

‘Wait… I want a word with you.’

In seconds, the two of them were alone, face to face, teacher and student.

Miss Ermidas gazed long and hard at the boy, who in recent weeks had shed the look of a lost child he’d had when he arrived at the school at the beginning of the year.

‘I wanted to congratulate you. You did a really nice piece of work this time.’

The teacher had been worried about him all year. The only child of a family torn apart by the accident, he’d come to the school, having moved from another city after his father died. Time is the best medicine to heal the soul’s wounds, thought the teacher.

Hadrián did not reply straight away. To Miss Ermidas it seemed he let his gaze wander out of the window of the classroom, which was open next to him, fixing it for a moment on some indeterminate point. It was just for a moment, and then his face broke into a smile that revealed the brace on his teeth.

‘It’s just… this time I did what you said and studied hard.’

This wasn’t the answer the teacher wanted, but she knew she wasn’t going to get a better one. There wasn’t much else to say so, before letting him go, she gave him some brief encouragement:

‘Carry on like this, you’ll soon find the path you’re looking for.’

Of course I will, thought Hadrián, but he didn’t say anything. He squeezed the hand in his trouser pocket, feeling the strength of his talisman passing through his fingers. He felt the energy in his forearm, his elbow, reaching his shoulder… He let go before it burned too much, smiled at the teacher again and started walking down the corridor, towards the exit, where Mónica was waiting.

Hadrián couldn’t talk to Miss Ermidas about what he already knew, tell her he’d found the path that had opened up for him centuries before and it was in his hands to fulfil the prophecy. Very soon.

Translated from Galician by Jonathan Dunne