wizard-of-the-pigeons

every passing instant. He located her easily this time, running through an alley
some block and a half distant and weeping as she ran. No need to pursue her. He
could now predict, even guide her course. It would be child’s play to cut her off.
He lifted his long robe and ran lightly down the sidewalk to his planned
interception point, chuckling soundlessly as he ran.
He appeared in the mouth of the alley before her, leaping out silently with
outstretched arms to catch her. She screeched in horror, pursued beyond sanity.
She stopped so swiftly she fell to her knees. Without trying to rise, she jerked
herself around and scrambled away from him on all fours. The alley was
cluttered with garbage cans and dumpsters. An inordinate amount of plain junk
was scattered about, as if the contents of a room had been thrown down from
above. She scuttled and hid from his eyes but he could see her. He didn’t mean
to laugh; she was so scared, when all he meant her was good. But it was too
ridiculous a situation; no doubt when she realized she had been fleeing her
benefactor she, too, would see the humor.
And he was tired of the pursuit. Poor little fool; best for her if she were
captured and it was over.
He waved his hand, and the other end of the alley closed before her. The wall
he had called up glowed with a fungus light, and dark shapes coalesced beyond
its translucence. She snatched herself back from it, breathing in little moaning
pants.
She fell and cowered upon the paving stones, huddled in on herself.
“Come here, now,” he ordered her in a kindly voice.
She only whimpered.
“No harm will come to you if you do as I say. Come to me.”
She rolled herself into a tighter ball. He frowned at her stubbornness. He
began to pick his way through the junk and clutter, then halted. It would be
better for her to come out and face her fears, he decided abruptly. For her own
good.
Having been driven himself, he well knew how to drive.
With a gesture he freed a sinuous gray shadow from the wall of light. It oozed
toward her like a monstrous slug, elongating itself to surround her and force her
to its master. She screamed at its touch and staggered up and forward a step
before she collapsed again. Wizard shook his head. She had so little stamina.
Was this the woman he had risked his life for? Idly he held his creature in check