The Pyross and the Hydross are two people in war on a planet cut in half. The Pyross adore the sun and believe that water brings nothing but death and grief. The Hydross, on the other hand, have to protect themselves from the heat that destroys them. The war between the Pyross and the Hydross dragged on and on until the day Skan, a young Pyross warrior who had gone on a crusade to the far side of the desert, set eyes on Kallisto, a rain child.