Dominique dreams of joining the Rangers and leaving behind her homestead's claustrophobia and boredom. Every fledgling must fly the nest to become something more. Sadly, the world has only harsh lessons to teach. Had she known how desolate and soul-destroying conditions outside her community were, maybe she would have chosen to stay under the care of her relatives. But the young are forever restless, so when the Rangers finally arrive ahead of an inferno, she eagerly tests for their ranks. In the unlikely company of the only other teenager in her village, Wang, autistic, brilliant, but socially inept, Dominique waves farewell to her past. On their quest to resurrect an age-old contract between the followers of an earth religion and the mysterious tech city dwellers, the closely knit rangers, with their two newest recruits, encounter the overwhelming emptiness and barrenness of the Burn. They battle disease, wild animals, the inhuman Welcomers, the frighteningly evolved City Dwellers, an all-controlling sentient being and the fragility of existence. Everything hangs in the balance. Only the burgeoning talents of the youngsters can get them through the end of times.