RAEL

A Summary

Concept, revision, and summary by Ron Udal

Story by Angela Vargas

 Rael, a hybrid Engkanto with a dull, shadowed complexion that marks him as an outcast in the radiant society of Biringan City, lives in self-imposed exile, tending a hidden garden of poisonous fungi, his only solace in a world that rejects him. When a telepathic broadcast announces the disappearance of Princess Lirio, a noble diwata, the city erupts in panic. For the first time, Rael wonders about the world beyond the Veil Barrier, a magical border that keeps Biringan hidden from human eyes. His quiet existence shatters when he discovers a human child in his toxic sanctuary; knowing the child’s presence could mean death for them both, he faces an impossible choice: turn her over to the authorities, who would execute her for breaching the Veil, or risk everything to smuggle her back to the human world.

 Haunted by the memory of his parents, who were executed for their mixed blood, Rael chooses the latter, embarking on a perilous journey that forces him to confront his deepest fears and unlocks a hidden power within himself. Along the way, he seeks help from an ancient, half-mad diwata who gifts the child a concealment charm, but when slum-dwelling thieves threaten them, Rael’s latent abilities erupt, revealing wings of fur and feathers that carry them to safety. However, their escape draws the attention of the city guards, who brand Rael an "aswang" and hunt them down.

 In a desperate flight, he breaches the Veil Barrier, delivering the child to her rural village where he witnesses a tender family reunion: a true moment of bittersweet joy that leaves him weeping for the belonging he’s never known. Yet his defiance does not go unpunished; upon returning to Biringan, he is captured and sentenced to execution in the Core, a plasma furnace that fuels the Veil. As he faces his fate, the missing princess reappears, leading a group of humans armed with protective magic, and she reveals the truth: the Veil’s cruelty has only bred suffering, and harmony between humans and Engkantos is possible. With the city’s hierarchy overturned, Rael is finally free, not just from persecution, but from the limits of his self-doubt, his wings a symbol of the strength he never knew he had.