The Forbidden Oasis was pretty, if you were in the oasis proper and not up on the sandy, wind-blown cliffs. Fen'lath sat on one of the sun-baked red sandstone boulders on the edge of the waters, wet hair spread over her back to dry. The end of every day's planned activities in the Oasis was marked by their group splashing around in the water while wearing their smalls, washing off blood, sweat, and the powdery red grit that seemed to get into nooks and crannies that sand was never meant to see on a human, Qunari, or elven body.
Bull was shamelessly flirting with Dorian as he soaped up, flexing and offering to help scrub his back. Dorian's blush blended into the tan that darkened his complexion, and he sloshed away from Bull while muttering. Fen didn't catch all of it, but 'lummox', 'horned brute', and 'kaffas' featured heavily in what she did hear.
Even as densely muscled as he was, Solas floated easily on the oasis waters, eyes closed in a meditative state. He bobbed in the eddies caused by Dorian and Bull's activity, relaxed. Fen had worried that he would burn in the searing desert sun, but so far, he had only freckled. She herself had darkened, and her freckles had spread across her face and shoulders.
In her hands, she held one of the shards that would supposedly work to unlock the temple hidden somewhere in the oasis. She ran her fingers over the rough grey surface, shivering even in the heat when they accidentally bumped over the glowing blue-marked skull on it. Her teeth ached as it hummed in response, and Fen set it aside. The urge to throw it as hard as she could was strong, but the cost of finding the shards was too high to just toss them aside. Those poor Tranquil…
A sudden thought occurred to her. Horror stole her breath, gripping her tight. Solas-Solas might have answers. She jumped off the rock and sloshed towards the floating elf. "Solas!"
The distress in her voice surprised him, and he floundered in the water for a moment before gaining his footing and raising his hands, expecting to see that they were under attack. Seeing only Fen, he raised an eyebrow, "Fen'lath? What is wrong?"
"The oculara! The Tranquil!" She gripped his arms, large eyes even wider with distress. "Does making an ocularum trap the Tranquil's spirit in it? We have to free them from the oculara! We can't just leave them trapped in there!"
Solas's mouth dropped open, and worked for a moment. His lips pressed into a thin line, and his expression went stormy. "I am not sure, but we will find out. Let us get dried off and properly dressed, and then we will speak to Dorian and the Lady Seeker."
"Dorian I get, but why Cassandra?" Solas took her hand to help her up onto the boulder to fetch the shard, then slogged through the water next to her towards their camp. They both grabbed undershirts and leggings that had been left to dry in low-hanging tree branches. Solas spoke, each word coming out slowly, as if picked with careful precision. "It may be the demon is trapped in the ocularum in addition to the Tranquil's spirit, or instead of the Tranquil. In either case, having the Lady Seeker along would be a good idea, should destroying an ocularum release a demon trapped within it. Definitely not Bull. He'd just as soon smash it and be done with it."
Fen gave a slow nod. Oculara were often not close to rifts that would help against demons, so Cassandra's abilities as a Seeker made logical sense. "Maybe Cole, too?"
"I could help." Fen shrieked and dropped her clean clothes, leaping at Solas. He dropped his clean clothes to catch her, then chuckled and said, "Cole, in the future, you should approach from the front, and not just appear."
"I would very much appreciate it." Fen picked up Solas's tunic and leggings, shaking the sand off and handing them to him. Her own leggings and tunic had more sand on them, and she sighed. She'd just get a clean set in camp and bribe the damned requisitions officer to wash everything again. The spirit boy nodded, "From the front, friend not foe."
"Exactly," Fen peered at the sun, which was getting lower in the sky than she would like for setting out for the closest of the oculara. "We may need to plan tonight and go to the ocularum tomorrow."
Solas squinted at the horizon, judging the time, and nodded. "I agree. Although-Cole?"
"Yes?"
"Would you be able to visit the ocularum above the camp to see if the Tranquil's spirit is trapped within and return before sunset without any trouble?"
"A shadow shifting over silent sands, a whisper in the wind. I can."
"Thank you, Cole." Solas tilted his head up towards the Inquisition camp. "Shall we, Fen'lath?"
In the early morning light, other than being a strangely lit skull, the ocularum didn't look like it contained the tortured spirit of a Tranquil.
Fen could hear Cole's words from the night before. He'd been frantic, not even noticing when she took his hat off so she could hug him and calm him down.
"Trapped, tormented, terrified. It's too small! The heat, burning, baking, blistering everything. Why does it feel like this? Where am I? I saw people, could they hear me calling for help? Won't someone help?"
Dorian and Solas both walked around the ocularum, murmuring to each other. If anyone could figure out how to free the spirit trapped inside, it would be the necromancer and the closest thing she had to an expert on spirits and the Fade. Cassandra glowered at the Venatori relic, her Nevarran accent making her words sound even more clipped in anger, "Once Solas and Dorian have figured out how to destroy it and release the Tranquil trapped within to the Maker's side, we are going to send teams to the oculara we have mapped and destroy them utterly."
"Not yet, Cassandra." Fen forced herself not to shrink back when the Seeker's fury turned to her.
"What are you saying, Herald? You would allow these-things-to continue to exist?!"
"We must know if we've found all of the shards the Venatori were searching for with each ocularum, first. If they are able to get ahold of even one…" Fen trailed off, watching the play of emotions across Cassandra's face.
"You… may have a point. We do not know what is hidden in the temple here, and if the Venatori are after it, it may be something dangerous, or something valuable. Once we have located and marked the locations of each ocularum's shards, though?"
"Then we destroy the ocularum and free the spirit trapped within. I will not knowingly leave any other spirits languishing while I have a say in it." Fen set her jaw. Solas had beckoned Cole over, and he was… laying his cheek on the ocularum.
"Seeker," Solas approached them, staff planting in the sands as he drew himself to full height. "We believe we know how to free the spirit trapped inside to allow her to cross over as she should have when her body died."
The Tranquil had been a woman.
"Do you need my help?" Cassandra's eyes narrowed on the skull.
"Yes. You will need to call down an Annulment on the skull and shatter it with your blade at the same time. Dorian will siphon the spirit from the shattered skull to direct it, and I will be twisting the Veil just enough to allow it to pass through. The spirit has assured Cole that we have gathered all of the shards she could see."
"Are you sure this will work, Solas?" A skeptical brow crept up the Seeker's forehead.
"Certainty is never assured, but Dorian and I believe this has the best chance of breaking the magic that binds her to the ocularum and letting her rest in peace." Solas raised his chin, gripping his staff in both hands and leaning into it.
Cassandra nodded, and gestured with her shield, "All of you stand behind me. If you are caught in the Annulment, it will be very painful. I have no wish to cause any of you injury."
"Of course not, we're not Varric!" Dorian piped up cheerfully.
"Ugh."
The three mages and Cole stood behind Cassandra, watching as she took a deep breath, focusing inward. Something pulled in the air around them, and then with a battlecry, the Annulment slammed down onto the ocularum as her sword shattered the skull. Fen stumbled back. It was like standing next standing next to a silent thunderclap, and she could only imagine what being the focus of one was like. Dorian and Solas ignored it somehow, a purple haze twisting from Dorian's fingers and a green vortex appearing in front of Solas. The wisp of purple rushed into the vortex, there was a popping sensation as the vortex collapsed in on itself, and all fell still.
Cole touched the shattered fragments of bone, then looked up with a wide, happy smile. "You did it, she's free now!"
Fen let out a sigh of relief. Solas moved next to her, setting a hand on her shoulder. "We will free all of them, Fen'lath. You have my word."