The poison was more than just a sting.

It moved slowly.

Slow, slow, and poisonous like a living creature, it tightened around my ribcage, squeezed the breath out of my lungs piece by painful piece, and slithered through my veins.

My body weighed down, my thoughts clouded into an empty agony, and my pulse slowed as I gripped those ropes, feeling as though I were plunging deeper and deeper into the icy water.

With a horrible green glow, the ropes pulsed, mercilessly eating away at my ...