Skulduggery Pleasant : The Katahedral Crystals

Katahedral

Dexter peered down at the house "Are you sure it's where Serpine is hiding? It just looks like a house to me."
They were lying on a hill in northern Kerry, virtually in the middle of nowhere, peering down at a moderately sized cabin.

"Positive" Skulduggery said
"Dexter is right. That's just a house." Said Saracen
"Have some patience" said Skulduggery.

As if on command, three of Mevolent's soldiers emerged from a forest to the left of them and strode into the house.
Hopeless glanced at Skulduggery "We shouldn't just go in blind, we don't know what we're getting into"
Saracen looked at Hopeless "There's not many of them in there. We can take 'em"
Shudder stood up.

"Hang on a minute Anton" Ghastly said "Don't just walk up, we need a plan"
"Nonsense, we have a plan" said Skulduggery " We walk in and see what happens"
"That can hardly be considered a plan." Said Ghastly
Skulduggery stood up "Oh well".

Ghastly sighed and stood up with the others.
All seven of them advanced down. They called them The Dead Men as they had a reputation for going on what seemed to be suicide missions but coming back alive.

There was Skulduggery Pleasant, a living skeleton who brought himself back to life out of pure rage and lust for vengeance against the man who killed him, Nefarian Serpine. There was Anton Shudder, a quiet, scary man who used a gist as his magical discipline.

There was Ghastly Bespoke, a tailor whose mother was jinxed while pregnant, giving him perfectly symmetrical scars covering his whole head. There was Saracen Rue, a jolly man who 'knew things'. There was Dexter Vex, a blonde, muscular Ergokinetiscist whom the ladies loved. There was Erskine Ravel, an elemental whose charm was almost equal to his fighting abilities. And finally, there was Hopeless, a pessimistic man who was a deadly assassin.

All seven of them advanced cautiously down the hill, using the foliage to avoid being seen. They approached the house from the side, peering through the window. Dexter nodded at Skulduggery, who proceeded to knock at the door. They all waited for a second before a soldier opened the door. Skulduggery punched him so hard he was out cold before he hit the floor. The other soldiers became aware of an intruder and scrambled for their weapons, but they weren't fast enough.

Dexter ran in, blasting the first guy in the face with a beam of energy, knocking him over. Dexter ducked behind a table and looked up. He became aware of Hopeless shooting someone with his bow and Skulduggery slamming someone else's head into a wall. More soldiers rushed in from another room. Erskine cursed and hurled a fistful of fire at them. Erskine unsheathed his sword, stabbed one in the neck, took out his knife and started stabbing another.

Soon enough there were no more enemies to fight. "Clear the house. Serpine's gotta be here"
The seven of them began to clear the house, searching room after room, but they found no sign of him. Skulduggery called them over to a back room, where he stood over a door to a cellar.

"He fled." Said Skulduggery.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Said Dexter while opening the cellar door.
Behind the door, there was an ominous-looking dark tunnel with no end in sight. They went in single file, Skulduggery taking the lead. Skulduggery snapped his fingers, summoning a flame to light their way.

They continued down the path for several minutes that felt like hours for Saracen. He wasn't scared of the dark per se, but he wasn't the biggest fan of it. They arrived in a small room where a dimly lit bulb was trying its very hardest to illuminate the room, but to not much success.

The Dead Men spread out, making sure every nook and cranny was checked. Again, they found nothing but a rickety door. They opened it to find another long, dark corridor with doors on either side.