Eliane and her allies race to confront the mysterious stranger who has been terrorizing the woods around Linchigham while demanding to see “the fake Saint, Eliane.” Empowered by a malevolent curse that has also turned the forest’s monsters feral, the stranger quickly proves too powerful for Nigel and Ralph to handle. Out of options, Eliane finds herself having to resort to the riskiest of her saintly powers to have any chance of surviving—the double-edged Goddess’s Blessing.