She took a step toward the boys, ready to smack some manners into their nasty little-boy heads.
"Wait," Rainier said.
The two shadow Scelties suddenly appeared behind the boys and…
“Ow!” the boys cried. They hurried toward a knot of adults. “Those dogs bit us!”
A man—father?—looked at the shadows, who were now wagging their tails. “Don’t be silly,” he said. “Those are illusions. They can’t bite you.”
One of the boys turned toward the shadows, hauled back, and kicked with enough force it would have lifted a real dog off its feet. His foot went right through the shadow.
But Surreal saw a gleam in the dogs’ eyes that made her knees go weak.
As the adults followed the ghostly guide up the stairs for the first part of the tour, the shadow Scelties moved in on the boys, nipping and herding until they had their quarry cornered. And there those boys would stay, missing the tour. Since the landen adults believed the illusions couldn’t touch anyone, the Scelties were free to carry out their own brand of discipline.
Surreal and Rainier looked at the Scelties, then looked at each other and said in unison, “Now,that’s scary.”