The Battle Cry

Charan was sitting on the sofa, sipping his coffee and munching cookies, when Vivek came inside and said, "I have talked with Igor. He said that Francis is hiding somewhere in Russia, probably in his childhood friend Dmitry's house." Charan looked at him and asked, "Dmitry who?" Vivek replied, "Igor said that Dmitry is just like Francis. Son of a honcho of the Russian Mafia. His father is currently on his deathbed and Dmitry is soon going to become the new honcho and it will create difficulties for us in the future." Charan finished his coffee and said, "Tell Igor to stay in touch with Francis and keep us updated. He will get his reward as promised." Vivek said, "Actually, there's a slight problem. He wants to double the amount of the reward." Charan said grimly, "Tell him that we don't like greedy people." Vivek replied, "He said that he has a girlfriend now and he needs money for the usual girlfriend needs." Charan smiled, "Even people like him have girlfriends?" Vivek replied, "Yes. He isn't that heartless and moreover he is quite charming." Charan asked, "Who is that fortunate girl?" Vivek shrugged, "How would I know that?" Charan waved his hand, "Anyway, tell him that pleasing his girlfriend is his business. We don't have to do anything with that." Vivek said, "Let it be, brother. He is giving us a key to the golden chest and moreover he won't be staying around for too long after we kill Francis. Let him spend some gala time with his girlfriend." Charan sighed, "Okay. If do as you wish. Where is Arman, by the way? I haven't seen him in the last three days." Vivek replied, "He is spending his time with Hamida. He genuinely feels sorry for killing Shayana and sometimes cries when Hamida utters 'Ammi'. He is thinking of finding a mother for her and after almost after our graduation from college that is like ten years ago, he has opened an account on a matrimonial site." Charan smiled, "I know him. He isn't the guy to end up married and get settled. You have to find a mother for your niece." Vivek asked, "What do you mean?" Charan stood up and went near Vivek, "Look. I'm not saying that you forget Shirley and erase all her memories, but you also have a life and I'm damn sure Shirley would have wanted that too." Vivek said, "It's easy to advice. But, will you be able to move on and start anew?" Charan smiled, "Dear boy, my fate is already written by the ink of crime and I won't deny that Alia was the sweetest and happiest part of the story. I just want you to be happy and after we become the king of Underworld, I will part ways with you and Arman and then you two can live a normal life, where there will be no risk and fear of death." Vivek sighed, "And you will be the sole bearer of the trouble." Charan smiled, "Someone has to ride the horse, right?" Vivek smiled. Charan said, "Let's go to a restaurant, I'm faminished." Charan and Vivek went outside the room.

Francis and Dmitry were patiently listening Igor's explanation about what happened back in Germany. Igor was saying, "That bastard Richard deceived us and joined hands with the enemies. I tried to warn Shayana, but before I could do anything, Richard and his friends attacked us and we somehow escaped from there and came as soon as possible to Russia." Dmitry asked, "What about the loyalty to your master oath?" Igor replied, "Sir. My duty is to protect my master and not his guests and I surely did was right. I quickly came near my master, so I can guard him from any upcoming danger." Francis said, "Okay. I trust you. But, what about Richard and his friends? Did you recognized anyone of them?" Igor replied, "Unfortunately not. All of them had balaclava on their face, but I recognized one of the men. It was probably the leader. He looked like an Italian to me and also he was speaking in Italian over his phone." Dmitry curled his lips and said, "So, it Syman's plan. I should have known that it was coming. First, the attack on the hotel and now the murder of our precious asset. He is taking this matter at a different level." Francis said, "There's no point in crying over spilled milk. With Shayana dead and Richard turning betrayer, we lost both the Middle Eastern and South Asian support. Now, we have to get underground till Dmitry becomes the new king of Russian Mafia." Dmitry said, "That will take time. Doctors are saying that father is getting better now and might become totally fit in a few days. Once, my father becomes fit we can easily get our hands on Syman's neck and strangle him to death." Francis laughed, "Now, Syman is going to know why the Dortmunds are feared so much."

Francis was sitting inside his room, smoking a cigar when Kasper came inside and said, "You look quite gloomy tonight. I know it's hard to lost someone close to heart, but it's life. People comes and goes, but life goes on. I still remember when my mother died. I was a boy of twelve then, my father carried my mother's body on the backseat of his cycle and went twenty miles to bury her in the graveyard. I also wanted to go, but a cycle doesn't carry much and I couldn't bid her final goodbye. My father was looted and killed by some bandits on his way back to home and his body hasn't been found till today. Sir's father took me under his tutelage and soon he found the bandits and brought them before me. I don't know how people kill others, but that day I brutally murdered five men, the men who killed my father, the five men who made me an orphan, the five men who didn't have mercy on a sobbing husband and a son waiting for his father. I piss on their graves every morning, I don't know if it gives relief to my father's soul or not but it indeed gives to mine." Francis smiled sadly, "I wish I could say the same. You must know my father and his acts, I am not ashamed as he did what he thought was right. But, he taught me to respect women and said that I shouldn't be like him. He left everything for me, wealth, name and power, but I always felt numb like it was never mine. I didn't earned it, I just got it. The palace was built on the bodies of innocents, walls painted with their blood and the rooms filled with their screams and agony. But, the day I met Shayana, I felt that my pain was nothing compared to hers. She lost her identity, virginity and home to her enemies and still she kept smiling. That day, I decided that I will finish all of her enemies and rightfully make her my wife and I will make that happen. Her enemies will die and the first will be that scoundrel Richard." Kasper said, "I have a plan."

Sir Alexander Zhukov was sitting on his bed, drinking vodka and watching a young girl dancing in front of him. Francis knocked on the door and Sir Zhukov said, "Come in." Francis and Kasper came inside the room and Francis said, "Hope you find peace in afterlife." Kasper immediately closed the door and Francis shoot three bullets in Sir Zhukov's chest and he immediately died. Kasper caught the dancer and Francis put the gun in the hand of the dancer. He and Kasper quickly took her outside and after few moments, Kasper whispered in her ear, "Run if you want to live." Francis fired a bullet on a pillar and the dancer quickly started to run when Francis and Kasper shoot her down. The sound of gunfire alerted the people and soon Dmitry, Igor and Alisha along with armed guards came running towards them. Igor went inside the room and saw his father's dead body lying on the bed, the whole bed was maroon with his blood. Dmitry felt on his knees crying and Francis consoled him, "I and Kasper came to meet Uncle, when we saw the dancer stealthily escaping. We tried to stop her and when we tried to stop her, she fired a bullet at us and we had to kill her." Dmitry rose and went near the dancer's body, which was surrounded by a crowd of guards and servants which dispersed on the sight of an angry Dmitry. He came and looked at the body, it was bleeding heavily and one of her eyeball was lying on the floor. Dmitry crushed it with his foot and looked at one of the guards. He asked, "How could you let an armed girl inside my father's room?" The guard bowed his head down and said, "It was Sir's order to not touch her." Dmitry sighed, "Prepare for my father's funeral and dump this body." He looked at the body and fired a bullet in her head. Francis and Kasper took Dmitry inside his room and Fracis said, "I know it is not a good time to discuss this. But, I think you should take the throne by the day after tomorrow as enemies have reached our home and we have to take a step at the earliest." Dmitry replied, "It's our tradition to wait for forty days for the next king's coronation. Go and take a sleep. We have a lot of questions to answer tomorrow." Francis and Kasper went outside the room. Francis asked, "You sure no one has seen us?" Kasper replied, "Don't worry. Sir's room has no cameras and I personally closed down all the cameras for an hour." Francis said, "Thank you very much, friend. One day, I will surely pay your debt." Kasper smiled, "Go and sleep. Dmitry was right, we do have a lot of people waiting for answers from us." Kasper went towards his room. Francis murmured, "He called Dmitry by his name. Looks like this worm is turning into a snake. Looks like it's time for him to unite you with his parents." Francis gave a wicked smile and went inside his room.

Sir Zhukov's body was kept on a table, nicely washed and sprinkled with perfume. He was wearing his beloved uniform in which he killed many of his enemies. Dmitry was standing beside him and was getting hugs and consolation from the people coming to bid their king a final goodbye. Francis and Kasper were quietly sitting near the podium where the people were delivering eulogies for their late king. Francis looked at Igor, who sitting at the farthest corner and beside him was sitting Alisha, dressed in black attire. Igor was holding his hand and saying something to her. Kasper also looked at them and smiled, "Atleast he is happy now. Finding someone to love is also a virtue, which is difficult for me to gain." Francis said in a grim tone, "No, true love comes finding you. Shayana found me, Alisha found him and someone will find you." Kasper sighed, "To be honest, Shayana never loved you and Alisha doesn't love Igor either." Francis asked, "How can you say that?" Kasper smiled, "Remember you told me that Shayana was kidnapped by you and instead of cursing you, she joined hands with you and then she didn't even let you touch her. You gave her home, security and all she gave was nothing. So, tell me where is love between you two?" Francis replied, "I don't know about her, but my love was true and I will fulfill the promise that I gave her." Kasper said in a low voice, "Sit straight. General Zhukov has arrived to pay late respects to his brother." Francis and Kasper quickly sit straight as a tall and robust middle aged man came through the door. Behind him, there were four armed guards and a fit and attractive lady in her early forties who came near Sir Zhukov's body and the lady put a bouquet near his feet and saluted him. The man looked at Dmitry and hugged him and then instructed the guards to go and take their seats. The lady came and sat near Francis and Francis politely asked, "Pardon me, madam. But, the seat is reserved for the General. The lady looked at him and smiled, "Don't worry. He won't be sitting till his brother gets buried six feet under the ground. Moreover, only I have the privilege to sit on the seat reserved for him as I am his wife." Francis said, "In that case, I am quite sad that you didn't recognize me." The lady asked puzzled, "Excuse me?" Francis smiled, "You said that you are the wife of our respected General and it is a strange thing you don't know about me." The lady looked carefully at him and said, "I really don't remember if we ever met earlier." Francis replied, "Of course, we didn't. But, most of the Russia knows me and my face, particularly the people related to the Zhukov family." The lady looked at Kasper sitting beside him and asked, "Can you please introduce him to me?" Kasper smiled, "Okay. I will give a hint, madam. His last name is Dortmund." The lady's eyes got bigger and she said, "Sorry, son. I didn't recognized you. General never told me anything about you. We got married just two years ago, so I'm still raw at recognizing people." Francis hold her hand and said, "Don't worry, madam. Just don't forget my name next time." The lady quickly rose and went and sat at one of the farthest seat from Francis as she was quite ashamed at her silliness.

The thing was that the Russians were so indebted to the Dortmunds that not knowing the members of Dortmund family was quite shameful and insulting at the same time and she perfectly knows that. She was thanking God that Draco wasn't here or else she would have been punished very badly by him. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with a handkerchief and sit still, not meeting eyes with anyone. After sometime, when all the people have paid respects to Sir Zhukov, General Zhukov climed up the podium and stood near the mic. He coughed a little to get everyone's attention and then took a long breath.

He said in a grim voice, "As you all know that my dear brother that died yesterday night was not only our king or a daring warrior, but also an obedient brother, a loving father and a fair judge for the oppressed. Many people might have said many times, behind his back that he was a cruel man, a sadist and what not, but the true fact is that he never wanted this life. He never wanted to harm someone let alone killing someone. I still remember the day when he came back to the camp, bathed in blood and wounds, I ran towards him and took him to the doctor. The doctor advised him to quit the game of death and live a stable life, but he resisted. He said the words that I still remember "If I don't kill those demons today, my people will die a thousand times at their hands, my mother and their daughters will be raped everyday till their last breath, every innocent child will become a bonded laborer of them. So, tell me why should I quit when I can fight for my country, my people and my respect." He went and came back years later, he returned with the heads of the demons he sworn to kill and that coward Jimmy left the battlefield and ran for his life. That day he didn't became a king or messiah, he became a Russian. So, tell me fellow Russians, will we not fight back? Will we not win again? Will we not avenge our king's murder? WILL WE NOT KILL THOSE IMPOTENT MOTHERFUCKERS???" All of the people stood up and cried, "We will! We will! WE WILL!!" Francis looked at Kasper and smiled, "Now, that bastard Syman will know the real power of Francis Dortmund.".....