We can rewrite the excerpt, using first-person point of view instead, with Buck as the narrator as follows;
How to rewrite the excerpt
The whip cracked like a gunshot, tearing through the icy air and finding its way across my raw, aching back. I flinched, the sting sharp as a snapped bone, but I stayed down. No whine, no snarl escaped my throat.
Hal's rage was a red haze, hot and thick as the blood dripping from my wounds. The whip traded for the club, a heavier, uglier beast with teeth of iron. Blows rained down, each one a hammer against a frozen pond, shattering the ice of my will.
My muscles screamed, legs buckling under the weight, but I wouldn't rise. This was a silent surrender to the icy whispers that had haunted me all day, the premonition of something black and bitter just around the bend.