Power.
That was Kael's first coherent thought as the Heart of All Things merged with him. Not pain, though there was pain. Not fear, though there was plenty of that too. Just... power. Endless, infinite, impossible power flowing through every cell of his being.
He could see everything. All seven realms laid out before him like a map. Every living thing, every choice, every possible future branching out in infinite directions. It was overwhelming. It was magnificent. It was going to drive him insane.
"Hold on to yourself," Aldric's echo whispered, though he'd supposedly faded. "Don't let the Heart consume who you are. Remember your name. Remember why you're doing this."
Kael Ashford. Son of Marcus. Brother of Mira. Farm boy from Millbrook. That was who he'd been.
But now?
Now he was the container. The bridge between realms. The living seal that could be broken when the time was right.
The Palace doors exploded inward. Theron stood in the entrance, his sword raised, his army behind him. But when he saw Kael—saw what Kael had become—he froze.
"No," Theron breathed. "You've doomed us all."
"Or saved us all," Kael said, and his voice echoed with power that wasn't entirely his own. "The seal is breaking, Theron. The Seventh Realm is free. Your people are free."
And it was true. Kael could feel it happening. The barriers between realms dissolving. The Seventh Realm beginning to reconnect with the others. Colors became richer. The perpetual twilight started to brighten toward something that might actually be day.
People were appearing—citizens of the Seventh Realm who'd been hidden away, preserved in stasis, waiting for this moment. They looked around in wonder and fear, seeing their realm transform.
"What have you done?" Theron demanded. "The Heart—you've bonded with it. You're unstable. Dangerous. At any moment you could—"
"I know," Kael interrupted. "I know the risks. But this was the only way." He looked past Theron. "Where's Lyra?"
Theron's expression shifted, and for just a moment, Kael saw something that looked like regret.
"She fought well," Theron said quietly. "Better than I expected. Better than anyone had a right to expect. She's alive. Badly wounded, but alive."
Relief flooded through Kael, so intense it nearly broke his concentration on containing the Heart's power. "Take me to her."
"You're in no position to make demands."
"I'm in every position." Kael let just a fraction of the Heart's power show, and reality rippled around him. "I could unmake you with a thought, Theron. I could erase you from existence. But I won't. Because you're not my enemy. You never were. You're just someone trying to save your people, same as me."
Theron studied him, sword still raised, clearly torn between attacking and believing.
Then a new voice cut through the tension: "Let the boy pass."
The Sorceress emerged from the shadows, looking more solid and alive than Kael had ever seen her. The breaking of the seal was affecting her too, returning strength she'd lost centuries ago.
"You actually did it," she said to Kael, her voice filled with wonder. "You found a way. Not the way I wanted, not the safe way, but a way that actually works."
"For now," Kael said. "I can hold the Heart, but I don't know for how long. We need to figure out a permanent solution before I lose control."
"Then we'll figure it out together." The Sorceress looked at Theron. "Lower your weapon. The war is over. We won. Or rather, he won it for us."
Slowly, reluctantly, Theron lowered his sword. "If this goes wrong, if he becomes corrupted—"
"Then we'll deal with it," the Sorceress said. "Together. All of us. The way we should have three thousand years ago."
They took Kael to Lyra. She was lying in what looked like a healing chamber, silver light knitting her wounds back together. When she saw him, her eyes widened.
"Kael?" She sounded uncertain, like she wasn't sure it was really him.
"It's me," he said, moving to her side. "I'm still me. At least, mostly."
"You're glowing," she said. "Like, literally glowing. What did you—" Then understanding dawned. "You took the Heart. You bonded with it."
"It was the only way to separate it from the realm. To break the seal without destroying everything."
"That's insane. That's the most insane thing I've ever heard." She tried to sit up, winced, settled back down. "And it worked?"
"Look outside."
She turned her head, and through the chamber's window, she could see the Seventh Realm transforming. The twilight was giving way to actual sunlight. The towers that had seemed so ominous were now just... towers. Beautiful in their own way, but no longer threatening.
People were emerging from hiding, crying, laughing, embracing. Three thousand years of exile ending in a moment.
"We did it," Lyra whispered. "We actually did it."
"You did it," Kael corrected. "You got me here. You held off Theron's army. You believed in me when you had no reason to."
"I had every reason to." She reached out, took his hand. Her touch was warm, grounding him in reality when the Heart's power threatened to pull him into infinite possibilities. "You're Kael Ashford. Farm boy who saved two realms. Hero of the Seventh Realm. The boy who did what his ancestors couldn't."
"I'm not a hero," Kael said. "I'm just someone who got lucky. Who had people willing to help him."
"That's what heroes are," Lyra said. "People who get lucky and have good friends."
The Sorceress appeared in the doorway. "Hate to interrupt, but we have a situation. The Heart's release is destabilizing the boundaries between all seven realms. They're starting to blend together. If we don't stabilize them soon, everything will merge into chaos."
"What do we need to do?" Kael asked.
"We need you to act as an anchor. To hold the Heart's power steady while we rebuild the boundaries properly. It will take days, maybe weeks. And you'll have to maintain control the entire time."
"Can you do it?" Lyra asked, her hand still holding his.
Kael looked inward, feeling the vast ocean of power inside him. Feeling how easy it would be to slip, to let go, to let the Heart take over completely.
But he also felt something else. The connections he'd made. The promises he'd kept. The people who believed in him.
"Yes," he said. "I can do it."
And for the first time in three thousand years, the seven realms began to heal.