The Lost City

Prologue

Most people live in the present. They don't really think of the past, and they try not to think of the future when they can avoid it. They try to live in the moment, in the here and now. They don't think-they don't know-don't try to know what happened before.
But I know. I know, and that's enough. But, now, I'm telling you. Now I'm telling you something amazing...so amazing that you probably won't believe me. You will probably call me a liar, or a phony, or maybe just walk away. But I'm telling you now...please, don't put down this book. It is imperative that not only I know the secret...that not only I know about the past.
My time here might be ending. I'm not telling you how, why, or where I'll end up. Even if I do know, I can't tell you that, now can I? Got to have some secrets to myself, now that I'm blowing the big one.
But, first, before I tell you my story, you got to have some background. You got to know how it started.
I got to tell you about magic.
Okay, you can laugh. I get it. I was a non-believer once. Obviously, not anymore. But I was, once. A long time ago.
But, seriously. Magic is real. As real as me, as real as you, as real as the fact that ice cream is the greatest invention ever.
See, over 2,000 years ago, which is kind of a long time, there was a war.
Sure, in the history of the world, there have been plenty of wars, so what's so important about this one?
Thanks for asking. Now shut up, so I can tell you.
Kids, nowadays...so rude.
Anyways, there was this war, right? Yeah, I already said that.
You know what...I'm not that good at telling stories, so cut me some slack here. Help a fellow out, will ya? Well, I'm good at writing them, which is what I'm doing right now, obviously...but, well, I'm not good at telling them from my point of view, at least. So...I'm going to hand over the mic to the narrator. Those creepy shits know everything... They are even worse than fortune tellers...

....

It was a city lost in time. Now it has to be found again.
The Lost City, as it is now known by the rare few who know about it, was once called the Stone City. For the sole reason that the entirety of it was built by solid slabs of stone. It's people were happy...prosperous, but not too prosperous. Normal. Happy. Relatively small, for a city. So, for the most part, it was left alone. It wasn't dragged into conflicts, and had little to no political influence with other cities. It was left out, and mostly ignored. Not that the people minded, of course. They preferred their privacy. They wanted outsiders to look upon them with indifference. Because, the truth was that they weren't normal at all.
Though, as careful as they were...they couldn't sponge all of the cracks. A few leaks got out...and the rumors started. Rumors that the Stone City was more than what they pretended to be. A lot more.
The more the rumors were swirling, the worse the rumors got. New rumors turned up. Rumors of magic.
Whenever the officials of the city were addressed, they proclaimed that the rumors were ludicrous, and rather insulting.
The more the rumors were denied, the more things started to simmer down. The other cities, the restless neighboring lands were put at ease. Magic wasn't real. It couldn't be. What were we thinking? Magic? Ha!
But one land had also heard the rumors. A large neighboring empire. They started getting angry. Their lust for power, and their greed and entitlement made the unease grow more and more every day.
The Stoners (what the citizens of the Stone City were called) were peaceful people. They weren't suited for power. They weren't suited for war. Which is why they were not prepared when the neighboring land invaded.
The army arrived on their doorstep, weapons arise, armor fastened, and their cold eyes ablaze with fury. Then an animalistic war cry filled the air.
The war lasted twenty-one days. For twenty-one days, the Stone City put up their best fight. They fought the intruders, desperately clinging to what little hope they had. They fought valiantly, but it wasn't enough.
On the rise of the twenty-first day, the smoke finally cleared.
The entire city was gone.

Hey, guys.  So this is a book that I'm working on that I hope to get published eventually.  I wanted to test it with a bigger audience than my mom and a few of my friends, so I brought it to you.  Though, I'm not finished with it, and I'm not going to update chapter one, until I get at least 150 votes and a decent amount of commentary.  I don't mean to be stingy, here, but I'm really serious about this— and if people don't take to it, I'm not going to let it just wither away on my profile—it means too much to me.  So please, vote, comment.  Tell me if you like it, if you do, what you like, and if you have any criticism, I'd be open-minded to your suggestions.  Thanks!

-Paige