The pages from Martin's book describe a magical knife that could kill a god. The blade wasn't recovered, so it could still be in Fillory. Eliot, Margo, and Alice want to strike a deal with the Neitherlands thugs and give them the button so they will be protected.

They all perform a spell, but in each scenario they see The Beast killing them, except for when they all go to Fillory. Penny hears The Beast's voice threatening him unless he gives himself up. Alice learns that Joe killed himself because he was hearing voices, and Penny realizes The Beast is targeting travelers. Penny goes to see his old mentor Stanley, who also kills himself.

Quentin decides that they need battle magic to protect themselves for when they go to Fillory. They are unsuccessful at it, so they seek out Kady who knows how to do it. Kady tells them a shortcut that hedges use. The Beast tells Penny to come to him or else he will kill the girl in the dungeon. Penny does cocaine to drown out the voice, overdoses, and winds up in the hospital. Pearl gives him a device that will temporarily block out the voices. Penny agrees to go to Fillory with everyone as long as they rescue the girl. They all bottle their emotions as Kady instructed, and successfully perform battle magic. When they drink the bottles, they become overly emotional. Penny and Alice don't want to use the bottles, while Quentin, Eliot, and Margo do. Eliot wants to be healed by Chatwin's Torrent. Margo is worried about Eliot. Quentin wakes up the next morning in bed with Eliot and Margo. 

Richard explains that to contact the gods for help, they need to use magical creatures. Since Julia was the first to get the prayer spell to work, he thinks she's god-touched. Julia and Kady go to look for the magical creatures. They are sent to a lamia, which is in the form of Kady's mom. The lamia says that all the gods are dead. Richard doesn't want to give up. Julia tries to contact the gods, and gets a vision from a goddess telling Julia how to find her.