From high atop his royal war elephant, the Khagan of China surveyed the bloody battlefield, watching the vast expanse throb like the surging waters of the Nile. Amidst the carnage stood Rostam, the demon-binder, steadfast as an unyielding mountain, while dark vultures circled the sky as if awed by the hero's fateful stars. Trembling with apprehension, the Khagan summoned a noble warrior fluent in the Persian tongue and dispatched him with a message of peace to the Elephant-bodied champion.
The Khagan urged Rostam to abate his wrath, declaring that the men of Chaghnan, Shaghn, China, and Vahr harbored no ancient malice toward Iran. It was Afrasiab alone whose blind greed had ignited this disastrous conflict, drawing foreign monarchs into a war that brought only ruin. With Kamous slain and terror striking the hearts of the allied hosts, the Khagan pleaded for an end to bloodshed and the opening of a grand feast of reconciliation.
The messenger arrived before Rostam with an anxious heart and eloquent speech, presenting the Khagan's entreaty and cautioning the champion against dividing the uncaught gazelle of the wild, for none could foresee the turns of fate. But Rostam, spurring Rakhsh forward, thundered back with fierce pride. He declared himself the lion-overthrowing bestowal of crowns and cast aside all pleas for truce. Demanding the immediate surrender of the enemy's war elephants, ivory throne, and royal crown, Rostam asserted that an invader who sought the plunder of Iran could not now escape through desperate words. Arming his mighty loop, he vowed that neither the Khagan nor the fiercest lions could withstand the unyielding vengeance of his arm.