Three days passed in a blur of effort and exhaustion.
Kael stood at the center of a ritual circle drawn across the entire Obsidian Wastes, channeling the Heart's power to stabilize the boundaries between realms. Around him, mages from all seven realms worked in concert—something that hadn't happened since before the sealing.
But the strain was taking its toll.
Kael could feel himself slipping. The Heart whispered to him constantly, offering easier solutions. Shortcuts. Power without limit if he'd just let go of his humanity and embrace what he could become.
"Kael." Lyra's voice cut through the whispers. She'd recovered enough to stand, though she still moved carefully. "You need to rest."
"Can't," he managed, his voice hoarse. "If I stop channeling, the boundaries will collapse. We've come too far to fail now."
"You're killing yourself."
"Maybe. But everyone else will live."
Lyra grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. "Listen to me. You saved two realms. You did the impossible. But you're no good to anyone dead. Let someone else take over for a few hours."
"No one else can hold the Heart."
"Then teach them. Share the burden. That's what the Heart is supposed to do anyway—connect things. Connect people." Her silver eyes held his. "You don't have to carry this alone."
Kael wanted to argue. But looking at her, at the concern in her face, at the other mages working themselves to exhaustion to help him, he realized she was right.
He'd spent so much time trying to be the hero, to fix everything himself, that he'd forgotten the most important lesson: heroes need help.
"Okay," he said. "Show me how."
With the Sorceress's guidance, Kael learned to share the burden of the Heart. Not the full power—that was still his to bear—but the strain of channeling it. He taught a dozen others how to act as conduits, spreading the load across many instead of one.
It wasn't perfect. It was slow, difficult work. But it was working.
And for the first time in three days, Kael was able to rest.
He dreamed.
In his dreams, he saw his family. His father standing in the ruins of their home, staring up at the sky where the Seventh Realm was now visible—a new continent of twilight and shadow hanging above the world like a second moon.
Mira was there too, older now. She'd grown in the weeks Kael had been gone. No longer the frightened thirteen-year-old he'd left behind. Now she looked determined. Strong.
"Come home," she said in the dream. "Please, Kael. Come home."
He woke to find Lyra sitting beside him, keeping watch.
"How long was I out?" he asked.
"Six hours. The longest rest you've had since this started." She handed him water, which he drank gratefully. "The boundaries are holding. The other mages are managing. You did good."
"I need to go home," Kael said suddenly. "My family—they must think I'm dead. They must be terrified."
"You can't leave yet. The Heart's stabilization isn't complete."
"I know. But once it is..." He looked at her. "Will you come with me? To meet them?"
Lyra blinked, surprised. "You want me to meet your family?"
"You're my friend. Maybe more than that. I don't know what this is between us, but I know I want you there. I want you to see where I came from. Who I was before all this."
A slow smile spread across her face. "I'd like that. I'd like to see this Millbrook you keep thinking about. This farm. This simple life you gave up to save us all."
"It wasn't simple," Kael said. "It was beautiful. And I want to show you beautiful things. After all the darkness and struggle, I want to show you wheat fields and sunrise and my sister's laugh."
"Deal," Lyra said. "We finish stabilizing the realms. Then we go home. Your home."
But even as they made plans, Kael felt something shift in the Heart. A ripple of wrongness that made his breath catch.
"What is it?" Lyra asked, immediately alert.
"I don't know. Something's... off. The Heart is reacting to something." He closed his eyes, reaching inward, trying to understand what the Heart was warning him about.
And then he saw it.
There were others. Other artifacts like the Heart of All Things, scattered across the seven realms. And now that the barriers were down, now that the realms were reconnecting, those artifacts were waking up. Responding to the Heart's presence.
"We have a problem," Kael said. "A big one."
The Sorceress arrived moments later, as if summoned by his realization. "You feel them," she said. It wasn't a question.
"The other Hearts," Kael said. "They exist. They're real."
"Yes. The Heart of All Things was the first and most powerful. But there were others created afterward—the Heart of Fire, the Heart of Oceans, the Heart of the Void. Six in total, one for each of the other major realms." The Sorceress's expression was grim. "They've been dormant for millennia, their power locked away. But your bonding with the Heart of All Things has awakened them."
"What does that mean?" Lyra demanded.
"It means the war that ended three thousand years ago might be about to start again," the Sorceress said. "But this time, there's no one to seal them away. This time, we have to find a better solution."
Kael felt the weight of it settling on his shoulders. He'd saved two realms, yes. He'd broken a three-thousand-year-old curse.
But he'd also started something that might be even worse.
"Then we find the other Hearts," he said, standing despite his exhaustion. "We find them before anyone else does. And we figure out how to contain them safely."
"That could take years," the Sorceress warned.
"Then it takes years." Kael looked at Lyra. "I'm sorry. I know I promised we'd go home. But I can't. Not yet. Not until this is finished."
Lyra was quiet for a moment. Then she stood beside him, her hand finding his.
"Then we go together," she said. "All seven realms. All six remaining Hearts. We do this right."
"You don't have to—"
"I know. But I'm choosing to anyway. Because that's what you do for people you care about. You face the impossible with them." She squeezed his hand. "Besides, someone needs to make sure you don't kill yourself saving everyone."
Kael laughed, and it felt good. Like he was still himself despite everything.
The Sorceress nodded approvingly. "Then we begin. Lord Azure and Lady Crimson have already agreed to help. Theron is... reluctant, but he'll come around. And there are others across the realms who remember the old wars. Who know where the Hearts might be hidden."
"We'll need a team," Kael said. "The best from each realm."
"Then we'll assemble one," the Sorceress said. "Welcome to the next phase of your impossible quest, Kael Ashford. Congratulations on not dying. Now let's make sure you keep that streak going."
As the sun rose over the newly free Seventh Realm, Kael looked out at the seven realms laid before him. Seven worlds, now connected again. Seven Hearts to find. Seven impossible challenges ahead.
But he wasn't afraid.
He was ready.