Free A Hundred Words for Hate by Thomas E. Sniegoski

face.
    Stepping closer to the front of the box, he could see that the man’s bare arms and legs were adorned with tubes that disappeared beneath the thin flesh like burrowing worms, a series of monitors on the front of the coffinlike box providing readouts on his health.
    The box was helping to keep him alive.
    “Hello, Adam,” Remy said sadly, placing the palm of his hand against the front of the plastic case.
    If this could be called living.
    Flashes of memory appeared before his mind’s eye as the nature of the Seraphim at the center of his being was stirred by the memory of the one within the box.
    He saw the actual Garden and all the wonders within her, including the magnificent specimens that would eventually become the prototypes for the human race.
    But he also saw Eden in turmoil, the destructive aftereffects of original sin, and God’s displeasure with His most prized creations.
    “It’s been quite a long time.”
    Remy sensed the presence almost at once; the air was suddenly charged with an ancient power.
    He turned, the Seraphim inside ready to emerge.
    Standing before him was a being of immeasurable might, although he too was wearing the guise of humanity—a tall older man in a finely tailored suit, with closely cropped white hair and beard—but Remy could see through his disguise.
    See him for what he was—and what he had once been in the scheme of things.
    “Malachi,” he said in the language of the Heavenly hosts.
    “Remiel,” the angel responded, his voice reminiscent of the celestial choir. “Thank you for coming.”
     
    The Garden of Eden: During the Great War in Heaven
     
    The Seraphim Remiel soared above the Garden of Eden, sword in hand and ready for battle.
    They had said that the legions of Lucifer would come here, to this beautiful place created for the Lord God’s most spectacular creations, but which was now empty of them.
    The humans had been banished . . . punished for the sin of disobedience—a sin that Lucifer Morningstar had predicted.
    Remiel landed amid the thick greenery, the stench of God’s anger still tainting the air. It was peaceful here, the clamor of battle, the sounds of brother killing brother not yet reaching its emerald expanse.
    Yet.
    The Son of the Morning had said that God had given them too much, that the humans would take His gifts for granted and disobey Him in their arrogance.
    And in an attempt to prove that his words were true, Lucifer tested them, tempting the first of the humans with the fruit of the Tree.
    The Tree of Knowledge; the Tree that was forbidden them.
    And Lucifer was proven right; they did betray the trust of their most beatific Creator, but it did not stop the Lord God from continuing to love His newest creations—though He was immensely disappointed.
    Which led to their punishment.
    For their sin, the humans had been driven from Eden.
    Remiel trudged through the forest, his sword of fire cutting a swath through the overgrowth toward his destination. With the humans gone, Eden had grown wild and overgrown—those chosen to be the gardeners no longer there to tend it.
    But this punishment wasn’t enough for the Son of the Morning, who wanted these two insolent whelps wiped from existence—for the Almighty to recognize that He had already conceived His most magnificent of creations.
    The angels were all that He needed; the angels would love only Him, and never disobey.
    But how quickly was that proven false?
    Despite their flaws, God did not forsake His human creations. Instead, He chose to love and guide them, picking them over all others.
    This enraged the Morningstar, and many others of the Heavenly hosts, and war was declared against Heaven. They decided that they no longer needed Him, that they no longer loved Him, and chose to disobey Him in any way that they could.
    Rumor had it that Lucifer and his followers planned to take Eden as theirs, to use it as a stepping-stone—a beachhead—to eventually taking Heaven itself.
    This,