Tales of the Red Panda, The Pyramid of Peril, by Greg Taylor, read by Greg Taylor and

Clarissa Dinerlandon.

Chapter 1

The Desert Air hung heavy with scent as the man pushed his way through the crowd at the

bazaar.

The marketplace was teeming, but he seemed to be the only white man in it,

though that was hardly what made him stand out the most.

The man plowed his way through the masses, mostly watching behind him as if struggling

to glimpse some hidden terror.

Indignant shouts followed him, betraying his path, though they quickly died off as the natives

dismissed him as just another boorish foreigner.

In a small space between two quiet stands the man paused and threw himself against the wall,

breathing hard. His face looked like it had absorbed several blows and recently.

His hair was white and flowing beneath his Panama hat, and a small white beard

well trimmed somehow gave the impression of standing in for a much longer one that should have

graced his chin. He felt the corner of his mouth, searching for blood and finding none.

The man scanned his surroundings, his reason returning to him, struggling for any sort of plan.

His cape could not have been that simple, that much was certain.

They would be upon him soon, and he was powerless to resist them.

Or was he?

He looked down at his forearms and pulled up the sleeves of his jacket.

Each wrist was bound by a copper-colored band about six

...