The court of King Kay Khosrow blossomed like spring, surrounded by the realm's greatest paladins—Goudarz, Rostam, Gustahm, Giv, Roham, Gorgin, and Barzin Garshasp. Their royal revelry was broken when a herdsman arrived from the pastures with terrifying news: a sun-hued beast resembling a wild ass, bearing a line of black musk along its spine and possessing the ferocious might of a lion, had fallen upon the royal herds and slaughtered the warhorses. Kay Khosrow instantly perceived that no ordinary beast possessed such malice; it was an Ahrimanic scourge. He requested the immortal champion Rostam to hunt down the monster.
Rostam mounted Rakhsh and scoured the plains for three days until the shimmering beast flashed across the horizon. Intent on capturing it alive for the king, Rostam cast his royal lasso, but the moment the hemp tightened, the creature vanished into thin air. Rostam realized he was facing no mortal quarry, but Akvan Div—a demon of illusions requiring sharp steel and strategy rather than raw force. Exhausted after three days of relentless pursuit, Rostam chanced upon a crystal spring. He unbridled Rakhsh to graze, laid his saddle as a pillow, and yielded to deep slumber.
Seizing his opportunity, Akvan Div rushed forth like a tempest, carved out the earth beneath the sleeping titan, and lifted him into the highest heavens. Rostam awoke suspended between earth and sky in the clutches of the monster. The demon offered him a cruel choice: to be dropped onto the sharp crags of the mountains or hurled into the abyss of the ocean. Knowing the inverted logic of demons, Rostam cunningly begged to be thrown onto the jagged peaks so that the demon, driven by spite, would do the exact opposite. Akvan duly plunged him into the deep sea.
The instant Rostam hit the waters, he unsheathed his sharp blade, slaughtered the sea monsters attacking him, and swam valiantly to shore. Offering praises to Yazdan, he returned to the spring only to find Rakhsh missing. Tracking his warhorse on foot, Rostam reached the lush pastures of King Afrasiab of Turan, where Rakhsh was fiercely mating among the Turanian broodmares. Rostam lassoed Rakhsh, saddled him, and drove off the entire royal Turanian herd. When the Turanian herdsmen and cavalry pursued him, Rostam cut them down like grass. Even Afrasiab, arriving with two thousand elite knights, could not withstand Rostam’s devastating mace and fled in terror as Rostam claimed their war elephants and spoils.
Returning victorious to the spring with the plunder, Rostam was confronted once more by Akvan Div. This time, Rostam gave the fiend no respite; he whipped his lasso around the demon’s neck, dragged him from the heavens, and smashed his skull with his anvil-like mace before severing the monster's head. Rostam returned to Kay Khosrow driving the vast herds and war elephants before him. The King of Kings marveled at Rostam’s wondrous triumph, praising the Almighty for endowing Iran with such a champion. After two weeks of glorious feasting, laden with crowns of turquoise, ivory thrones, and royal brocade gifts from Khosrow, Rostam took his leave to visit his ancient father Zal in Zabulistan.