This is something most do not know about elementals: they are bred for war.
Perhaps bred is the wrong term. There is no biological family for elementals, only the mage that summons them and whichever other elementals they're with in their army.
They are summoned, they are trained, they fight, they die or are banished back to wherever they came from. It's all they know.
When he was first summoned, he was a young boy, healthy and strong. His flame was bright and his shoulders, not yet as broad as they would eventually be, were squared and alert.
His first emotion was a fierce need to protect the woman he saw before him. She was a bipedal cat, draped in deep maroon robes and exhausted from summoning him. Her rings glinted as she pointed to the wall, catching light from the few sources in the room. "Join the others."
He turned and saw a line of elementals, as young and strong as he. Ice, wood, water, rock, and more stood silently, waiting for orders. Making sure to stand far from the ice elemental, he faced the mages in the room, who seemed finished summoning. They were all stooped, tired, and old, as if they were days from melting into dust.
"Elementals!" called someone he had not noticed. They were tall and broad-shouldered, weighted with silver armor, and perhaps something more. "You have been summoned to protect more than the mages in front of you."
More than his mage? What could be more important than the woman responsible for his existence?
"You have been summoned to protect the fate of all of monsterkind. Humans refuse to allow us land that is rightfully ours, destroying peace we have maintained for eons. They wish to destroy us all. We must fight, or we will die. I refuse to let that happen."
The monster before him closed their eyes and sighed, collecting their thoughts.
"I'm not sure why I'm telling you this. You were created to fight, and fight you will. First, however, you must be trained. All of you, follow me."
Every elemental dutifully followed them out of the heavy cloth tent. The transition from the smoky dark of it to the bright sunlight outside was nearly blinding. Wind softly brushed him, and the sweet smell of grass and growing things filled the air, but both were unimportant compared to the presence of the soldier before him. A bored looking monster came by and handed each elemental tattered linen pants and shirts.
The soldier turned away as they all dressed. "Wind! We have more for you to train."
An alert looking elemental jogged over, made of swirling air in a vaguely bipedal shape. She looked over the line before her.
"Cyprus says I am to train you. I am Wind. You will all be referred to as your element until you die or are banished. Until that happens, you will fight. I will be the one to teach you how." She turned to Cyprus, who nodded and waved a scaly hand. Looking back at the elementals, she calmly gestured for them to follow her.
The camp was bustling with life. Monsters rushed to and fro, delivering messages and sharpening blades and fletching arrows. Young hopefuls were checked over for health and strength, that they may too join the army.
None of the elementals received these tests. Their only purpose was to kill. If they failed and died, another one could always be summoned.
Elementals were both powerful and expendable. The perfect soldiers.
The group reached a second tent, open on one side and bare expect a single row of training dummies. Here, they halted, as Wind turned back to them.
"Here, you will begin to learn how to channel your magic. You begin to learn what an elemental is. Our magic is more innate than any other monster, as we are both created with it and made entirely of it. Your mage will watch you train today, along with myself and Cypus, to make sure there are no defective elementals. I would like all of you to stand in front of a dummy. When I say begin, start attacking. Later, you will learn how to incorporate your magic with weaponry, but for now simply focus on summoning it and using it."
Flame turned and walked quickly to the nearest dummy. It was incredibly simple, canvas and straw in a vaguely humanoid shape.
All around him, everyone attacked. Ice, a few elementals down, summoned spikes of ice to drive into their target's chest. Water chose to use a single long stream to blast the dummy into the far wall. Rock pulled earth up on either side of the dummy, then brought each slab together to crush it.
Flame considered his options. A few short blasts of fire to knock his target down? A single stream of fire to scorch it? No, those were minor. He needed to obliterate it, to really show his capabilities.
With a few instinctual gestures, he summoned a wall of pure flame in front of him. It was over six feet tall, and radiated heat.
A single push, and it raced towards the dummy. The fire was so hot that the canvas began to smoke and curl even before it was touched.
The dry straw and old cloth was no match for his fire. It immediately caught, and burnt away to almost nothing in only a few moments. As soon as there was nothing left but smoldering ashes, Flame turned to seek his mage's approval.
Her eyes were wide. Had he done something wrong? But no, soon after she nodded and murmured to a few of her fellow mages, tail twitching. It didn't matter what she was talking about, or why she looked so surprised. If she thought Flame needed to know, she'd tell him.
Flame glanced at the other elementals. Most had completed their task, though a few were still finishing up. Only one elemental was still struggling.
Mud was doing everything right. He had a solid stance and correct movements. However, his magic simply wasn't responding. Dirt swished beneath the dummy, but it wasn't powerful enough to even jostle it.
"Mud!" called Cyprus. "Stop." Mud immediately froze, dropping his hands to his sides and straightening. Cyprus rustled their wings, thinking hard. "There are a few elementals here than can become strong with work. However, we don't have time to train you. Whoever summoned him, banish him back, kill him, whichever is faster. We need to move on."
An ashamed looking vine monster stepped forwards. They gestured to Mud. "Remove your tunic."
Mud did so unquestioningly, revealing the faint glow of his core, the center of elementals that sustained their being. The mage thrust their hand into Mud's chest, grasping the core and removing it, all the while muttering spells. Mud gasped and choked, dropping to his knees.
The mage whispered one last incantation, then crushed his core in their palm.
Mud opened his mouth in what may have turned into a scream, but before he could loose it, he dissolved into a lifeless pile of sludge.
Cyprus curled their lip. "Everyone else, follow me. We've weeded out the weak, now we make the rest of you stronger."
Flame didn't bother to avoid the patch of mud on his way out.
