midday
The character of the land did not change . Cliffs still walled the coast , in some places rising sheer from the water , in others broken by a footing of coarse beach . Only flying things were to be sighted over their rocky crowns . But by midday there was an abrupt alteration in the scene . A wide river cut through the heights and gave birth to a fan-shaped delta thickly covered with vegetation . Half hidden by the riot of growing things was a building of the dome shape Dalgard knew so well . Its windowless , doorless surface reflected the sunlight with a glassy sheen , and to casual inspection it was as untouched as it had been on the day its masters had either died within it or left it for the last time , perhaps centuries before .