Puck sat perched on Rizpah’s crown as she marched through the freezing night. Their target was the Living Glacier. It had been weeks since the Shard-Pack fell, and their final, dying smiles still haunted Puck’s sleep. Worse, the Voice had gone completely silent. In his darkest moments, Puck tried to recall the warmth of the green place, but the memories were fading into the blizzard. He felt incredibly alone, cut off from the wonders he had experienced over the past months.

Just as the loneliness threatened to crush him, the iron clouds parted. For the first time in an age, the moon bathed the wasteland in pure, silver light. Puck looked up, and tears spilled down his fur.

My dear Puck, a voice spoke.  It echoed clearly throughout the land. I have never left your side for a moment. I am always near you. The ground under your feet, the air you breathe, the water you drink. Never stop believing in me. Even if you do, I will be beside you always. I will be your voice, your strength, your guide, and your warmth.

Puck stood tall on Rizpah’s massive head, reaching his small arms toward the moon.

"Voice of the green place, be everything that I am!" Puck shouted into the night. "I don't need to speak, because you'll be my voice! I can be weak, blind, and cold, because you are everything to me! You are my one and only, and I will witness the task you gave me. I'll never stop believing!"

Rizpah snapped.

With a violent jerk of her head, she threw Puck to the frozen ground. Her anger flared instantly, the flames along her spine dancing so violently they looked like burning beasts leaping from her stone armor. She turned and towered over the small creature, her eyes blazing.

"Listen to me!" Rizpah roared. "I am your strength! I am your warmth! I am the only reason you are alive!" She ripped her gaze away from Puck and glared up at the shining moon. "Listen to your cowardly voice! You are nothing but words! I am the one fighting Rahab. I have seen its power, I know its might, and all you offer are dreams. You are nothing against true power. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill your Witness right now!"

The voice was silent. The moon slid quietly behind the thick clouds.

"Coward!" Rizpah screamed at the sky.

See my might, the Voice replied. The words were heavier this time, carrying an ancient weight that vibrated in Rizpah's bones.

Suddenly, the dark clouds flashed white. The moon ignited into a blazing sun, and the bitter ice beneath their feet melted instantly into soft, green grass. Rizpah’s roaring flames died out in pure shock as she stared at the vibrant earth. But the Voice wasn't finished.

"Mom."

Rizpah froze. A small, fragile voice had spoken from right behind her. She turned slowly, terrified of what she might see. Standing in the sunlit grass was her child she had lost to the ash all those years ago.

The Voice spoke again, filling the sky with absolute authority. I created all creatures of the sky, the water, and the ground. I shall never let a single one slip from my grasp, for they belong to I, and from I they came. They were fashioned by my hands. My breath is in their lungs, and my essence is in their hearts. All belong to I, for I am who created all!

Rizpah’s massive legs gave out. She collapsed to her knees on the soft earth. For the first time since the sky turned to fire, she reached out and touched her child. Tears flooded down her scarred, ruined face.

In the blink of an eye, the warmth vanished. The sun died, the grass shattered into ice, and her child was gone. The dense gray clouds swallowed the world once more. Rizpah remained kneeling in the snow, staring at the empty space where her child had just stood. Slowly, she lifted her head to the freezing sky.

"I will follow you," she whispered, her voice trembling but resolute. "You have the power. You know what I want. If I do this... will you give what I want?"

Yes.

Puck quietly climbed up Rizpah’s tail and settled back onto her shoulders. Without another word, she turned her massive body toward the ice-covered mountain in the distance. The cold winds slammed against them, but it didn't matter anymore. Their strength felt endless. Beast and Witness were finally bound together by a single truth: a power far greater than the winter was guiding their steps.