Splinterlands divider by @freeztag
Social Media Challenge Graphic by @diego1306
Roric gripped his battlestaff tightly as he trudged through the winding mountain paths. The air was crisp and the snow thick beneath his boots. He pulled his fur cloak tighter around his shoulders against the cold. As a battle mage of the Splinterlands, Roric had been dispatched on an urgent mission - to find the lost legendary cards that had mysteriously vanished from the library archives.
The legends told that long ago, there existed incredibly powerful magic cards forged by the finest mages in the realm. Each granted immense strength to whichever splinter claimed ownership of it. But over time, the cards had faded from memory and been presumed lost. That is, until recently, when a cryptic note arrived warning that the legendary cards had fallen into the wrong hands.
Roric's boots scraped against the icy rocks as he ascended higher into the Frost Peak mountains. Supposedly there was an abandoned monastery up here where the cards were last known to be held. He just hoped he could find it before whoever stole the cards figured out how to unleash their power.
Up ahead, through the swirling snow, Roric spotted a crumbling stone structure carved into the mountainside. Ice coated its arched windows and walls, but he could see faint torchlight flickering from within. Gripping his staff, he slowly pushed open the frozen wooden door.
Inside dust and debris covered the stone floors. Roric lit a flame in his palm to see by as he quietly moved through the halls. He entered what was once a grand library, its shelves now collapsed and books strewn across the floor. At the back of the library, he caught a glow emanating from a small room.
Roric extinguished his flame and crept towards the room, peering through the doorway. In the center of a circle of candles knelt a robed figure, head bowed in concentration. On the floor around him laid five stone tablets, carved with ancient runes that emanated magical energy. The lost legendary cards!
The figure looked up, eyes widening in surprise at the intruder. It was Alastar, a banished magician known for his dangerous and power-hungry ways. Roric leapt into action, casting a bolt of ice toward Alastar, who deflected it with a shield spell and grabbed for the nearest stone tablet.
"Surrender the cards, Alastar!" Roric yelled, firing another volley of ice daggers. Alastar dove and rolled away, brandishing the tablet. Roric felt a sudden surge of energy as Alastar channeled the card's magic towards him. Thinking fast, Roric cast a counter-spell, then slammed his staff down to produce a thunderclap that disrupted Alastar's focus.
Seizing the opportunity, Roric charged forward, swinging his heavy staff at Alastar, who scrambled away from the living legendaries. Roric stomped his foot, causing the stone beneath Alastar to erupt upward and send him flying back against the wall. Alastar collapsed to the ground in a heap, the tablet skidding from his grasp across the floor.
Roric snatched up the lost legendaries before Alastar could recover. "These don't belong to you," he growled. Alastar glared up at Roric in hatred, but seemed too weakened to fight back.
Leaving Alastar fuming in defeat, Roric swiftly departed the monastery and began the long journey back through the mountains. The lost cards had been recovered, their power kept from evil hands. The Splinterlands were safe once more thanks to a battle mage who never gave up the fight.