The Return (Once Upon a Time sequel)

Chapter 36

JADE

Thoughts clouded my mind as my eyes landed upon the sight before me. He couldn't be serious, was he trying to follow the villain stereotypes from the stories or something? Appearantly it seemed as if he did. 

A cave. 

That's where Zen headed to and had disappeared in. 

It took me a little while to catch up with him since his legs were longer than mine, taking bigger steps. Also, it wasn't easy for me to catch up with him because at every turn, another tree awaited for me to stumble upon. I tried to be discreed though, not wanting to give away the fact that I was following Zen. 

I sighed and climbed up the rocks, into the gigantic black hole that people like to call a cave. I had to walk in the darkness for a bit until my eyes landed upon a light that lit in the middle of the cave, lighting up the whole space. I quickly ducked behind a big stone and peeked from behind it to see Peter standing not that far away from me. His hands were bound behind his back to a rock. He was consious but looked exhausted even though he practically slept the whole way to this cave. 
Zen stood in the middle of the space, his eyes were closed and his lips were moving as he whispered a spell. His palms were placed together and a dark energy surrounded him like some sort of dark aura. He did some weird movements, spinning in slow motion and moving his body in a weird yet magnificent way. And then I realised what he was doing. He was healing his wounds with magic. I watched in awe as his wounds started to close, the blood cleaning up as if an invicible somebody whiped it all away with a cotton pad. 

Then, he abruptly stopped moving and opened his eyes. He moved his head in circles to strech a bit and inhaled deeply from his nose before exhaling through his mouth, a smirk taking it's place. 

"He's here." Zen announced, his voice was just a breath. 

Suddenly an orange light filled the inside of the cave we where in, blinding Peter and me. We both looked away while Zen stood in his place, facing the light with a welcoming look upon his face. The light slowly dimmed and I turned my gaze back on the space in front of Zen which was previously empty. Three shadowy figures stood on that spot. Two of them wore long, dark capes and had their hoods up, covering their faces. The third one wore a cape as well but instead of a hood, he wore a helmet. I raised my eyebrows in confusion. There was no sign of the mysterious shadow that I had come used to see in my dreams. 
Zen, himself, seemed confused too as he searched among them for a sign of his so called master. 

"Who are you supposed to be?" Zen spoke up first.

"Zen! How glad I am to see you!" A deep, demonic voice said.

I recognized that voice.

"Full of surprises, as always." Zen laughed.

"What's up with the bodyguards? I thought you liked being alone." He added. 

Laughter echoed through the cave as the three men stepped aside, revealing a tall, slender figure. It's razor sharp teeth were what nightmares were made off and I was pretty sure that that wasn't the only thing made up of those horrible dreams. The Shadow moved forward so that it was now standing in front of Zen but a few feet away. 

"Oh, they are no bodyguards, son. They are some fellow companions who will help me achieve my goals. Let me introduce you to the generals who will put my plans into action. Hirach, Izermo and Brutus." The Shadow explained, pointing to each general, beginning with the two that wore hoods. 

"They look disgusting and repulsive. I like it." Zen smiled. 

"So, I drove your boyfriend home, in case you haven't noticed yet." He pointed over his shoulder towards Peter who stared at the shadows with hate.