Standard Disclaimer: DOTA 2 belongs to Valve and IceFrog.

It all began as such a promising day.

Rubick had strode briskly upon the path, his head bobbing and darting about to take in every sight he came across, which mostly consisted of passing birds and insects native to the open plain. A traveller occasionally passed him, wary to ovoid the oddly dressed man.

The Magus had been traveling for days now, in search of a strange forest. He had heard rumor from several lower class Magus that people of all backgrounds had last been seen near the woods. From adventures, farmers, merchants, mages, warriors, assassins, killers, scientists, and more recently, fools had all been traveling near the unassuming green, and promptly vanished, never to be heard form again. Many rumors buzzed about to what exactly the source of these sudden disappearances was: some said ghosts, other thought it to be a particularly large group of bandits, and more assumed that it was a rouge Magus.

Rubick, did not particularly care exactly what it was, just so long as it was something that could pose a threat to him(because really, there had not been any real excitement in his life since assuming the title of Grand Magus) and had resolved to to solve the mystery behind those woods.

He had made good progress on his journey, and could now see the southwest portion of the mysterious forest. With rejuvenated zeal with the end of his journey in sight, Rubick hastened to close the distance.

Rubick stopped short at a fork in the road, the path going to his right leading away from the forest, and the one on the left winding towards the ominous woods. The two roads were separated by a small tavern made of wood and cobbled stone, with a modest number of travelers inside from the sound of things.

Rubick made the turn left, but was stopped by a shout: "Hey! You don't wanna go that way! the road is haunted!" Rubick turned his head to face the sound, originating from a unassuming traveler standing outside the door of the tavern. "Uh..." the traveller looked back at Rubick, perplexed at the Magus's reaction.

"Never fear for me, friend. I heard about this forest. I am here to investigate, and have come prepared." Rubick turned back to the road and once again began to walk, the faint muttering of the traveller entering the Magus's ear. "Well, guess I'll never see that clown again..."

Rubick continued upon the path growing ever closer to the forest. He did not lie when he said he came prepared, and had brought several wards to monitor the forest from a distance, the Magus making certain not to ever let the tavern leave his sight, as that landmark seemed to be a place that whatever was spiriting away tavellers could not or would not reach.

Now all Rubick needed to do was bait out whatever was out in the forest, and Rubick would-

He would-

Hmm. Rubick realized that he did not have anyway to tempt a reaction from the mystery of the forest. In his haste to get to the forest, He had not thought exactly how to get whatever was in the forest to come out. He could remember no illusion spells, nor had he brought a stored rune.

Rubick quickly walked to the tavern, asking the travelers and the owner if they had any such stored runes, but the only replies he received were negative. Quite the disappointment.

Rubick began to walk back to the forest path, deciding to collect his wards and journey to the nearest city for more supplies and something to lure out whatever it was that caused the disappearances. He supposed he would stay at the Inn this evening, as twilight was fast approaching.

As Rubick moved to pluck the last ward he had previously planted, something caught his erratically moving eye in between the trees of the forest. It was just a flash, but the Grand Magus caught what looked like a purple blur. Rubick paused, wondering if this was a stroke of luck, or a trap then many other travelers had fallen into. Rubick himself was still about a hundred meters away from where the forest began, so perhaps he could walk a bit further. to get a closer look at whatever he had just seen. But... that could be very well what he was meant to think.

Rubick began to ponder his current predicament. Should he continue, and potentially find what he is looking for, or go back and properly prepare to lure whatever was in the forest?

The answer was simple for Rubick. Rush over and find whatever had caught his eye, of course. He was not like ordinary travelers who came across this road. He was the Grand Magus, a title earned through combat. whatever came out of the forest, Rubick would have an answer for, with a very familiar response.

Rubick confidently strode towards the forest, and called out: "Hello! Is someone there?"

There was a stillness in the air as Rubick approached the forest. It was full of a subtle fear, the kind that made the hair on the back of one's neck rise. One that would shatter with a single violent movement.

Rubick's boots pressed against the grass. He could feel someone just inside the forest, watching him approach. Rubick's grip on his staff tightened, and his muscles began to tense with excitement. Before he knew it, Rubick was but a few steps away from the forest.

With a crunch of grass underneath light feet a man sprung out of the trees, swinging a blade crackling with energy at Rubick's head. With reflex's honed through years of practice, the Grand Magus summoned a bolt of magic, staggering his assailant. Unmoving, Rubick gazed at the Man who attacked him. The man wore a purple robe without sleeves, with white a white trimming and what looked to be two stacked collars. His hair was stiled into a flat mohawk, which transitioned into a tattoo that ran down his nose. The most striking feature about the man was his eyes, which faintly glowed purple save for his white pupils.

The man regained his balance quickly, entirely to quickly for much of anyone to in Rubick's previous experience. He called out "Whomever am I speaking to?"

The man responded with a rage in his eye. "I am Anti-Mage, and to thy just reward my blade compels thee!"

Ah, so there Is communication to be had yet! And the Anti-Mage...Rubick had heard of such an individual, the last man alive to posses knowledge of the dead Monks of Turstarkuri. According to the tales, the Anti-Mage was named Magina, on was on a quest to destroy the Dead God's Legions so they might do no more harm to any who lived. He had been given the nickname Anti-Mage for his unnatural resistance to the Dead God's magics, or so the story went within townsfolk all across the land. Still, this was rather confusing...

"Oh?" said Rubick, confusion entering his voice. "And why would you want to kill me? I have nothing to do with the Dead God. I never approached the Monks at Turstarkuri. Even assuming-"

Magina had decided the time for talk was over and blinked in front of the Rubick. With his two blades alight with power born out of an unnatural hatred, the Anti-Mage swung downward. With but a split second to react, Rubick shot his hand out, and in a motion, levitated Anti-Mage into the air.

In another movement of his hand, Rubick reached towards Magina and a green light emerged from the Anti-Mage. "There are none who cannot be mimicked. Even you are not exempt." Said the Rubick. With that, he willed Magina to be forced to the right, and Rubick blinked to the left.

The Magina quickly gave chase. "Spawn of sorcery!" he shouted, blinking after Rubick, but again Rubick blinked away, this time from where Magina came. The two combatants continued their dance about the clearing, a dazzling show of sorcery and combat arts.

But it would not last forever. There was but finite Mana within both the Rubick and the Anti-Mage. Both combatants knew this, but Rubick also had heard of Magina's ultimate power, the Mana Void, that which punished every spell cast.

While Magina would run out of the fuel of all magic first, the Mana Void would spell Rubick's death in a matter of minutes at this rate. With sweat dripping from his brow, Rubick began to think of an escape, lifting Magina up and blinking away. There were not many options at Rubick's disposal, as he usually heavily relied on his own opponents to supply him with spells to defeat them with. He could try to bait out the Mana Void, but even though Rubick had high magical resistance, Magina's own Spell-Shield was greater, and was more then likely to survive the Mana Void, assuming Rubick would live long enough to not only steal it, but also cast it back.

Then what was there to do? If Rubick could not find an answer to this question, then he would die. His heart raced as he continued to flee into the forest, hoping to confuse Magina. He had not been in this much danger in years, and Rubick loved every second of the long forgotten thrill. But still, this was hardly the time to dwell on the feeling. Rubick had to continue his escape. He pressed onward into the forest, moving with the unnatural speed of a man chased by his untimely death.

As Rubick moved deeper into the forest, blinking to his left, his right, and then back to his left again, over and over, he quite suddenly realized that he had lost track of Magina, and could not hear the crazed man's footfalls upon the fallen leaves and grasses. broken form his almost trance like focus, Rubick decided to rest for a short time in the cover of forest shade.

But as he moved to sit, another thought moved into his mind. what if this quiet is what the Anti-Mage wanted him to hear? He should not dally so long here, and needed to keep moving. Rubick thought that It was a well constructed point, and made to move further into the forest, when a detail buried by adrenaline and something more came forth: He was in a forest that people did not return form. Rubick was a thrill seeker, but just going into such a place, even in the midst of battle, was unlike him.

And with that, Rubick came to the realization that he had somehow been controlled to do so. Some force had pushed him into the forest, very likely the same thing the changed Magina from the tales first spun about him. Rubick began to ponder further. How should he proceed? He could follow this voice to its source and steal the spell that changed Magina, turn it back on whomever wielded it, and free the trapped man. After all, who would need to use another spell after dominating someone with as much resistance to magic as Magina? even If they had, it would be nice to have a challenge after so much time...

With conscious effort, Rubick discarded that thought, its utter stupidity overwhelming. Whoever or whatever was doing this clearly passed through any mental barrier he could erect. Simply following his first instinct would not get him very far. With that in mind, he decided to blink to the top of the trees in order to get a proper view of his surroundings.

In a blink, Rubick appeared atop a branch of a particularly tall tree, and with a glance about, found that there were trees as far as the his eyes could see. Not that Rubick was particularly surprised. glancing about, Rubick looked for a particular direction to travel, along with any notable landmarks. In the corner of his eye he spotted a flash of purple.

Jump down to the forest. loose him in the foliage again. Magina landed on the same branch as the Magus. Rubick broke the branch at his foot, sending Magina tumbling to the ground.

"Enough of this." Rubick said. "We could continue this for hours, whomever you are. Tell me what you want and why you have rendered Magina in this state."

Perhaps. A word was not spoken. there was no voice or any form of telepathy that Rubick was familiar with. It was the very concept of a word Perhaps that had entered Rubick's mind.

It continued. I am impressed. you are the second one to realize.

"...And...you did this to him? Because Magina realized?" Rubick asked.

No, I did not care that he knew. He tried to go against me. I did not tolerate it, and removed all memories that he did not require to participate in my defense. He is no longer Magina, As that was unimportant to his purpose.

"Defense? What are you?" Rubick questioned, his curiosity peaking. A being powerful enough to do something like that...

I am the Radiant. I am here to war with the Dire until only one of us remains. We both require Hero's to change the flow of battle. We two have spent much time creating all of them and bringing them to the battlefield through the influence of our scattered ore. You are one such hero.

"More Hero's...like me..." Rubick was lost in thought, remembering tales his father had told him of the Radiant and Dire as a youth, his head tilted to the side. In a split second, it snapped back strait. "So where do we begin?"

This was what Rubick had been searching for. An opportunity to truly test himself, such stimulation he had not recieved in a maddeningly long time. Besides, It was not like he really had much of a choice in the matter. The Ancient already exhibited enough power to command someone as stubborn Magina (he was still Magina, no mater what the Ancient said on the matter, the name was far to memorable) and Rubick knew that was no small feat. Such battles would undoubtedly be quite the experience. Even if it was somehow not a challenge, Rubick was safe in the knowledge that he could simply move on, and continue his travels of the world, and search for more danger to be had. Rubick had no real reason to antagonize something that ultimately gave him something he wanted. best to simply obey it and cooperate, as nether party needed to suffer against each other for something they both wished for.

The Anti-Mage will show you the way. Drop down to the forest. Rubick did so, dropping down to the forest below with a rustle of leaves beneath his shoes. Rubick found Magina waiting for him, with his usual sneer. "Come, foul mage." Signaling with his hand, Magina marched forward.

"How kind of you." Rubick said, following. Magina snorted in response. The passive aggressive type it seemed. Perhaps the ancient could be convinced to give back Magina's memory after the coming battles. It would be quite unkind to the man to simply let him walk about as a shadow of what he once was. Rubick's body shook with delight with each step. Finally, a challenge. Plenty of enemies to be had, plenty of friends to be made. With luck, perhaps the ever-elusive Arsenal Magus would show...

Well...That's my headcanon anyway. Just thought I would share. Please share your thoughts.