Elements (old work, rewrite soon)

Prologue: Discarded

"Not five minutes after springing into existence and I'm already marked for death." He thought.

He had dropped into the world a short while ago, popping out into the darkness after the spark of consciousness lit up his being. The first thing he ever felt was the rough stone floor below him as air flooded into his lungs. He heard breathing around him; others had surely appeared with him yet he did not know how he knew. 

His thoughts were cut off as a beam of light shone into the room, a large gate had been opened before him. Looking to his side he saw others squinting their eyes at the bright light, they wore simple clothes, all of them had their heads covered in spiky hair, as white as snow. 

"Come on you lot! Get out of there!" He heard, turning to face the origin of the noise he discovered a large gray figure standing in the opening to the stone chamber.

He stood up weakly, his legs unsteady below him, and shambled towards the open door. A quick glance around the cavern revealed his peers were doing the same.

"Move it!" Shouted the figure again, stepping to the side.

The group stumbled out of the chamber into a large room with a vaulted ceiling, white pillars stretched towards the ceiling with intricate carvings depicting people surrounded by multiple symbols. The origin of the light, he noted, was a large yellow orb in the center of the ceiling; it seemed to be made of glass with a styled 'A' in the center. He looked around at his companions, nine in total, they were all squinting at the glass orb as well, he saw how they seemed to be turning yellow under the bright light. Looking back at the man next to the door, he saw the man wore a gray robe, his chest was covered by a long beard that ended in a metal ring. The man looked old, pale grey skin covered in wrinkles made him look as if he had lived in the dark his whole life. 

"Alright, let's get star-" Started the man before interrupting himself. He raised a claw-like hand and pointed at him, in absolute silence.

"What?" He thought, as he felt something grasping his collar. As he rose into the air, he turned his head to see what had grabbed him.

"A red one" Said the man grabbing him, he looked like a younger version of the old man. He wasn't as wrinkled and without the beard, but had a similar grayish skin tone. "I told you the one on the left overcooks them"

"What does that mean?" He thought, alarmed.

"Damm it" Said the old man, "Throw it away, I'll prep the chamber"

"Wait!" He shouted, as the man holding him simply shoved him over his shoulder. He felt weightless as he flew backward through the air.

The world closed around him as the hatch he had been thrown into closed. He hit his back hard against the surface of the slide, rolling down into the darkness. The rough stone walls around him scraping his back and arms. After falling for what seemed like a full minute, a round light flooded the tunnel as the end approached, he saw a metal floor far below and approaching fast.

He raised his hands to brace for the impact, but it was not enough, he slammed onto the floor with the force of a small van; sharp pain erupting from his left arm after a low cracking noise. He rolled onto his side grasping the broken arm as his eyes watered. With a slight jerk the floor below him started moving, through the tears he saw the piles garbage around him, waste from the city above, which had now discarded him too. Cans and clothing littered his surroundings, larger debris hidden below the mountains of trash, remains of pillars and walls.

Dragging himself back, he propped himself up against a large object behind him, maybe what's left of a pillar. Not really wanting to, he stared at his broken arm. The middle part of his forearm looked bloated, but not bent; he discovered that he could move his fingers, though painfully.

"Where the hell are they taking me now?" He thought as he looked ahead, the moving garbage container he had fallen into was moving through yet another stone tunnel, the only light coming from a small yellow lamp on the end of the container.

"It seems the world is nothing but stone chambers and tunnels" He thought, a low chuckle came from him, and bounced around through the tunnel.

He rummaged through the trash next to him to find what looked like a broken unsharpened sword blade, grabbing a piece of cloth he quickly tied the metal piece to his arm, creating a makeshift splint. He didn't know for sure if it was broken, but he wasn't taking any chances.

He sat in the dim light of the lamp for what seemed like hours, the shadows cast on the stone walls danced as the container moved forwards. As the pain in his arm finally started seceding, he slowly drifted into sleep.