FANTASY writer David Morgan Williams has completed a dragon trilogy with a tale weaving Arthurian legend and fights with China’s ancient Terracotta Army.

The children’s author of Cwmbran spent more than a decade writing his Spirit of the Dragon trilogy, which features Merlin lore, time travel and exotic foreign locations.

Aimed at children aged eight to 12, the trilogy follows the adventures of an orphaned boy named Huw, who takes on a terror cell with a dragon spirit, before defeating an evil genie in Dubai and finally meeting China’s first emperor Qin and his army to fight mysterious Cobramen.

The geography teacher unfurled the series of books when his debut novel Dragonwise was published in 2002.

The retired Newport University lecturer followed it up with Ebony and Ivory in 2007 set in Dubai and now the finale, called XCalibur, Merlin and the Teeth of the Dragon.

Dragons, either from British Isles or other parts of the world like China, play an important part in the trilogy.

David, of Caernarvon Crescent, Llanyravon, said: "I've always been fiercely proud of being Welsh and I wanted to unravel the mysteries surrounding the symbol of the dragon, its origins and why eventually it represented the nation on the Welsh flag.

“Because the dragon spirit is greatly revered in Chinese culture too, it seemed to be the natural path for the odyssey to follow west to east.”

David was greatly inspired by his geography teacher Huw Powell Griffiths who took pupils to visit places full of mystical significance like Trellech.

He also drew inspiration from another scholar EG Bowen, his professor of geography and anthropology at Aberystwyth University, who helped him understand what lies inside and beneath the Welsh landscape and culture.

David began writing after retiring in 1990 as he made up stories for his grandchildren.

Each tome is published by Y Lolfa and retails for £5.95 and can be ordered from all major booksellers and Amazon.