THE FORGOTTEN FORGE A. L. Bentley Some things are inherited. Some are chosen. And some must be reforged. Aric Blackwood has spent seventeen years becoming exactly what his family never expected him to be. Ordinary. Far from the abandoned ruins of Blackwood Vale, he works as a village blacksmith, repairing plows, hinges, horseshoes, and the small things upon which ordinary lives depend. Iron makes sense to him. Heat has rules. A broken thing can usually be repaired if someone has the patience to understand how it failed. The Blackwood legacy offers no such certainty. Aric wants nothing to do with the ancient Forge bearing his family's name, the mysteries surrounding his father's death, or the iron pendant he has carried across half a kingdom while pretending it means nothing. Then Isolde Thorne arrives carrying his father's journal-and evidence that whatever Eamon Blackwood died trying to contain may no longer be sleeping. Across Avarren, impossible things are happening. Ancient iron grows warm beneath the earth. Bells ring without hands. Roads shift. Forgotten structures stir. And beneath Blackwood Vale, something has begun listening again. Forced to return home, Aric discovers that the legendary Blackwood Forge is far more than a family workshop. Hidden chambers descend beneath the ruins. Iron preserves impressions of hands long dead. Doors answer blood. Tools remember purpose. And buried at the heart of the Forge waits a power capable of teaching broken things to remember what they once were. For a blacksmith, it is a miracle. For a grieving son, it is a temptation. For a kingdom beginning to fracture, it could become a weapon. Because the Blackwoods did not create the power beneath their home. They inherited it. And they never fully understood what they had found. As Aric and Isolde pursue the mystery beyond Blackwood Vale, they uncover traces of an ancient network reaching beyond Avarren-and perhaps beyond their world. What first appears to be forgotten craftsmanship becomes evidence of a civilization that learned how to make intention endure inside matter. It also learned how easily creation could become control. Lord Kaelen Varrick sees opportunity where Aric sees danger. Avarren is failing. Roads are unsafe. Communities are isolated. Old authorities can no longer protect the people who depend upon them. Varrick believes Blackwood's forgotten power can accomplish what kings, armies, and laws have failed to do. And the most troubling thing is that he may not be entirely wrong. Every use of the Forge carries a price, and the cost is becoming terrifyingly personal. Some broken things should be repaired. Others should never be restored to what they were. And some inheritances must be changed before they are passed on. With Isolde beside him, an ancient hammer in his hand, and a kingdom moving toward crisis, Aric must confront his father's unfinished choices and answer an impossible question: If you possess the power to shape the future, who gave you the right to decide what shape it should take? The Forgotten Forge is a character-driven fantasy of ancient mysteries, forgotten worlds, dangerous craftsmanship, imperfect fathers, hard-won trust, moral courage, and the seductive promise that enough power can finally make everything right. Aric Blackwood never wanted to become a legend. He only wanted to repair broken things. Now he must decide which ones should remain broken.
