After an hour, they reached the mountains, and the prisoners were taken out of the cart. Their captors hid it, then the climb started. There was a notable slowness in the walking of the leader's horse, which delayed their arrival to the hideout.

Winton figured that would make it easier for his friends to catch up. He also took note of the walkways that connected the mountains, and the curves around them.

After an hour and a half, they reached their destination. Winton couldn't help but let out a surprised gasp.

They were standing on a formation of rock that offered more than enough room for them to gather on. The gusts of wind were pleasantly cool, and were gentle. Stars stretched out, closer than ever, their lights twinkling in the night sky. Built into the mountains, there was a building that looked like a bar.

"Well…at least they have good taste in location." Winton pointed out. Lyra sighed. "Well, I can't argue with that." She agreed begrudgingly.

The leader grinned devilishly. "We're not so cruel as to not give women a nice view. Now get inside."

It definitely was a bar, complete with a bouncer behind the counter. He was dark skinned, and looked like he could take on every man in the group by himself. The criminals were definitely intimidated by him, all except for their leader, who casually walked up to the big guy with a hand raised in greeting.

"Bruno!" The he said with a grin.

"Casus." He simply acknowledged. Then he looked over to see Winton and Lyra. "Another successful strike?"

Casus laughed. "The best of them all! See that Elf there? She's their princess! My trappers got the jump on her!"

The bouncer sighed. "Casus, if you keep this up you're going to get caught and sent to Hell. Why do you do it? What reason is there to kidnap young women and violate them?"

The leader's grin was wicked. "Because it's what we do." Then he leaned close to Bruno. "What about you? Why did you stay here if you weren't going to do anything at all? All you do is make our drinks and guard our doors."

Bruno was silent for a moment. "I wanted to meet a woman, get to know her. That's just about what every normal man wants."

"You know damn well why you can't have that. To even think of it goes against our nature." His tone menacing. "Do you think women will accept you, once they find out who you are? What we're doing is what we're supposed to do, including you. Tell you what, you can have those two for yourself once we're all done. They'll be locked up until you arrive, how does that sound?"

Lyra watched with wide eyes, waiting for an answer, while Winton was perplexed. ( Just…who are these people?) Winton thought.

"…I'll have them." Bruno answered.

They walked through a tunnel, passing by several metal doors.

While the tunnel was roomy, it didn't make the situation easier on Winton. With each room they neared, the men around them would pick out someone to enter them. When the guy opened the door, Winton would look away in fear. That didn't stop the screams.

"Get away from me!"

"Please, not again!"

"Just let me go!"

When the door to their room was shut and locked, he fell to his knees.

(How…how can they? This is wrong. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into. I can't this, it's too much for me to handle.) He stood up shakily, only to fall over and be caught by Lyra.

"I-it's alright." She said with false confidence. "We'll get out of here, I'm sure of it." Then her eyes started to water, and she sobbed. Winton's fear was replaced with worry, and he helped her get to the bed.

They got on it and leaned against the wall, side by side. After a few minutes, the princess's crying slowly faded away, and she wiped away her tears with her hand. "I'm sorry." She said. "It's just that…I never saw this happening to me."

"It's alright." The cross dresser assured. "I'm as horrified as you are." He looked down sadly. "I'm just wondering how men could be like this."

"As that guy said, it's what they do." Her tone had a hint of disgust. "Those perverts, they're not men at all."

"More like…beasts." That made him think of something.

"Exactly."

Pained screams echoed from the neighboring room, making Lyra clench her fist. "Horrible, I don't even want to think about what's happening in there." Then a horrifying thought entered Winton's mind, making his eyes wide.

(Oh gods and goddesses…)"Something's not right, and it's not this."

Lyra looked alert. "What do you mean?"

"When I said beasts, I immediately thought about the monsters that have been appearing recently." He explained. "Around the mountains, that's where they most often appear. However, during our trip over here, not one thing attacked us. Isn't that strange?"

"You're right. That seemed a little off to me too." She agreed.

"Then there was that conversation between those men. They talked like they weren't human at all, which seemed strange. It just led me to a horrifying thought."

She realized what he was trying to tell her, and her face was a mix of revulsion and fear. "You mean…these men….they're…"

"Monsters…yes."

They immediately got off the bed and headed for the door. Lyra frantically tried turning the knob, to no avail. When it didn't work, she stomped on the floor.

"What are we going to do?" She asked. "We're trapped in here, with a monster coming over here to…to…" Then her eyes widened at the thought.

She shook her head. "I don't even want to think about what their true selves are."

Winton was looking at her sadly. (What can we do? Even if my friends get here, they'll be to weak to take the monsters on. Wait a minute…) He looked at his hand. (Weak…that's not me. Maybe I can get us out of here. But I need to let her know.) He tapped the princess's shoulder, getting her attention.

"I have to tell you something." He said.

"What is it?"

"I have some friends that I met today." He explained. "They're Hunters, and they had me volunteer to be a prisoner. They're going to rescue every woman here. They're tracking me as we speak, and they should be here soon, along with some guards."

Lyra was skeptical. "So our freedom depends on if they can get here in time? Even if they arrive, it'll be too late. The way over here is tricky."

Winton smiled bitterly. "That's where we come in. We're going to cause a ruckus loud enough to draw my friends in."

"How are we going to do that? We're locked in here, remember?"

Winton was hesitant. He didn't want to scare her. (I have to tell her about my strength. ) He looked down shamefully. "To be honest, I'm…not any ordinary Nymph."

Lyra looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I'll be easier to show you."

He studied the door, which was made of iron, and summoned his gauntlets. Lyra gasped in surprise. "W-what are you doing?" She asked nervously.

Winton breathed deeply, drew his fist back, then let loose all of his strength in one, titanic punch. There was a loud 'CRASH!' as the door was snapped off its hinges, crashing into the wall ahead and cracking it. The door fell forward, and laid on the floor.

Winton slowly turned around and checked Lyra's expression. She was shocked, and a little scared. "Did…you just…how?"

"That's what I would like to know." A deep voice said, startling them.

Walking from the left of the room's opening, was the bouncer from earlier, Bruno. His arms were crossed, and he was looking down at them with a raised eyebrow. Compared to his size, the two captives were children. They stepped back, afraid of what he might do.

"Don't be afraid." Bruno assured. "I came here to help you."

"Why should we believe you?" Lyra asked angrily. "You work for the creeps! You even agreed to have your way with us! We even figured it out, you're monsters!"

"Please," He begged. "That was just a lie! I was going to free you and the rest of the women! I'm against violating women for my personal pleasure! I just want a woman to love and accept me! Trust me, please!"

Winton thought about the bouncer's conversation with Casus. He didn't seem to like what his leader was doing, and even questioned it. (He's a nice guy. All he wants is to be happy with someone he loves, and loves him back.) "Even if you are a monster, you deserve to love and be loved." Winton said sincerely.

Brutus looked grateful, while Lyra was shocked. "How can you agree to this?" She asked.

"Because he's different from the others." Winton replied. "I know he's telling the truth. The question is: Do you trust him?"

Lyra was silent and Winton was afraid she wouldn't agree to the help. Then she nodded with a determined look. "I'm in. If you can put your trust in him, then I will also. Before we escape, we need to get my sword. I never go anywhere without it." Brutus sighed in relief, then grew serious.

"I know where they're holding it." He said while holding up a ring with three keys. "Everyone else is locked up in the boss's office, on the pretense of a 'celebration party'. Now let's break out."