Manturos

In a universe where ancient powers known as Virtues symbolize and control every aspect of the mortal realm, Manturos, the son of a fire-Virtue and a human woman, is given in infancy to the Virtue Death as recompense for his parents' stolen union. If his mother, now immortal, will never die, a life must be surrendered; who better than the heir of the family itself? Death, wily as he is greedy, employs various dark allies as he trains the chosen child in his underworld domain, feeding Manturos upon the flesh of ghosts before releasing him in his parents' own forest kingdom. Manturos, dazed by the life abounding, staggers to adapt to light, sound, and his disparate siblings, all of whom embody flora and fauna of the forest. Boar, Fern, Flowering Glen, Brook, Songbird all behold in him love and fear, for he is their next lord, slave though he remains, and they rely on him to assume leadership someday... But Death has dark plans to use all their loves as a means of razing the forest itself, with Virtues such as Truth, the Wolf, Justice, Deceit, and the Moon playing roles to lend Manturos strength for his final choice: destiny, or fate?
This work of fantasy has numerous discreet references to classic mythology and real-world symbiotic relationships, and is part of Andreina Dreimher's Celestial Virtues collection.