"…Freya?" he breathed, hardly daring to believe it. He rushed to dress, feeling much more awake now that he recognized the voice, and ran out into the night. Freya's voice echoing in his head, he went to the stables for a horse and was riding out less than twenty minutes after waking.

He barely took the time to tie his poor, sweating horse to a tree when he actually arrived at the lake. Shaking, he stepped toward the water, still hearing her (somewhat annoyed) voice in his head. "Freya?" he called out.

The voice went silent. There was a light under the water, and there she was. Rising out of the dark lake and glowing like a star. She was dressed all in white, and her eyes were shining. She looked at him and smiled. "Merlin," she said, gliding toward him and stepping onto the shore. "I've missed you, my love."

He gave a small cry and embraced her. She felt warm and solid…and very wet, although she looked dry. His clothes were soaked when he stepped back, still holding her hands. "But…but how is this possible? You were dead. I buried you myself."

She laughed. "Yes, in the Lake of Avalon. And you used magic to do so. The two sort of mixed together and…I don't fully understand it myself, but I will soon."

Merlin frowned. "Why? What happens soon? What's going on? Why did you call me? How did you call me? What—"

His next question was forgotten as soft lips covered his own. The warlock smiled into the kiss and pulled Freya into his arms once more. For what seemed like only seconds and was probably even less, the woman pulled away briskly and dusted her hands together. "Now that that's out of the way, pay attention. We've got a problem."

Merlin blinked. "Uh…"

"Look, it's not that I'm not happy to see you and everything, because I am, and I love you, and I've missed you like you wouldn't believe, but we've got a bigger issue at hand than young love, and I sort of have a job now."

"Sort of?" Merlin asked, still blinking.

The white-clad druidess glanced at him, and it was impatience now making her eyes glitter. "Merlin, darling, you've got to get your head around this. I know it's late, and you're tired, and confused—"

"Um, confused more than anything." He caught her hand in one of his own, trying to bring it to his lips. She pulled away, casting him a scolding look, which he ignored. "Freya, how are you alive?"

She sighed. "I'm not. Well, not all the way. But I will be. Maybe. I don't know. It's complicated. Lance and I keep trying to puzzle it out, but—"

"Lance?"

"Lancelot, yes. The circumstances of his death grant him a half-life in Avalon, like me. Although in my case it's the circumstances of my burial." She closed her eyes, pursed her lips, and squeezed the bridge of her nose a moment. "All right. Merlin. I'm not just Freya the witch-cursed druid girl anymore. You and Arthur changed all that. You are Merlin Emrys, destined defender of the Once and Future King, and I am Freya Vivienne, Lady of the Lake, Queen of Avalon, Keeper of Arms." She took his hands in her own. "And yourheart. But there will be time for that later. We don't have much time now. I don't know how long I can stay, and I've got to explain all this to you."

And Merlin was back to blinking.

"…I've broken your brain, haven't I?"

Merlin nodded and sat down heavily. "…Isn't Avalon trying to kill Arthur?"

"Yes, that is the conundrum, isn't it?" Freya turned, swishing her white skirts as she did, and sat down beside him. "It isn't supposed to be, see? But Uther's wrecked everything with his Purge. Avalon's been in ruins ever since Nimueh went wonky—nearly thirty years, now. That's why they shut the gates, and at such a high cost to open again."

The word wonky threw Merlin for another loop, but it sounded natural on Freya's tongue. "What's Nimueh got to do with it?"

"She was the last Lady of the Lake. Avalon's got to have a Lady, or things get—"

"Wonky?"

She nodded, and her lips curled into a smile. "Exactly. I became Lady when you buried me here, but I'm still half-dead, and I will be until we can manage a couple of things. I've been fighting to get things sorted around here—like retaking the Sidhe Eldership, unscrambling magics—but I can't do much else until we get the gates open."

Merlin tensed and pulled away from her. "We'd have to kill a prince."

"No, that's the method the Sidhe want to use. There are other ways, and I've almost got one of them pinned flat. Kilgarrah's been helping, although he's been busy childrearing as of late." The sparkle went out of her eyes then, and her skin went pale and sallow against the dark of her hair and the white of her gown. "That's why I've called you, my love."

"What's why?"

"It's the dragons. Kilgarrah took Aithusa to a cave, a couple kingdoms over, to be close to a source of magic. But they're stuck now. Sealed in. They can't get out, which is bad, very bad."

The warlock frowned. "Why is it bad?"

"Because, for one, dragons are creatures of the Old Religion and their magic and survival helps keep Avalon up and running, and Avalon is supposed to be helping human princes. And there's other stuff involved, prophecy-type stuff I'm not allowed to talk to you about, that has to happen." She rolled her eyes. "You need Avalon to fulfill this whole destiny thing you and Kilgarrah are so keen on. For another thing, you're a dragonlord and Kilagarrah and Aithusa are your kith and you have to help. Also, Aithusa is in his formative…whatevers for a dragon and shouldn't spend it all copped up with Kilgarrah. He'll be thinking in circles and you won't get a lucid word out of him. I, for one, don't want to have to ask my questions in riddles, much less get answers that are even more brain-tricky than the big lizard's."

Keen. Wonky. Kith. And...brain-tricky? Merlin wished he'd had time to get used to Freya's vocabulary before she died. "All right…and why are they stuck?"

She sighed and shook her head. It wasn't a sad sigh, or a puzzled one. It looked and sounded more like she was shaking her head at something that was old news, that Merlin should have known about. "Vortigern," she said, rolling her eyes yet again. "Vortigern and his stupid, stupid castle."

Anyone getting any ideas?