In the City of Athaliah, nothing is ever quite what it seems. The Frore, a humanoid species, have taken over what remains of the Earth after the Final War of the Western civilization. Nothing remains outside the walls of the city but evil and death. Cassandra Wells lives with her father and brother at the outskirts of the City: in a large, but ugly caste called Terra, in the nasty city of Pauper. Cass does what she can to put dinner on the table, and with her mother dead, and her fat lump of a father working the factory line, it's not an easy task. However, Cass is determined that her brother, Samson, will have a much better life than she ever did. But soon, Cass' school will have the annual 'Cementum' of Terra Academy. Every boy and girl of sixteen will be tested and assigned to a new job and a new living compound. What will happen to her innocent little brother and beaten down father when she is gone? What will become of her?