When Gev returned to his father Goudarz, he reported every word of Piran's unyielding refusal, revealing that the Turanian commander possessed no desire for peace nor room in his heart for justice. Gev disclosed that Piran had already dispatched a swift courier to Afrasiab to demand massive reinforcements, which had crossed the river even as peace talks were ending. Hearing this, Goudarz declared that Piran had grown weary of his own life; though he had foreseen Piran's duplicity, King Kay Khosrow had insisted on testing the champion's true colors before unleashing the storm of war.
Without delay, the war-drums sounded at Zibad. Goudarz led the host of Iran down from the highlands into the expansive plain, while Piran advanced from Gonabad at the head of one hundred thousand armored Turanian horsemen. The two mighty armies formed up like twin mountains of iron and steel. The blare of war-horns shook the very earth, and the dust kicked up by high-spirited chargers eclipsed both sun and moon. Spears bristled like stars in a midnight sky, while the violet flash of drawn blades shone beneath the emerald radiance of the gem-encrusted Kavian Banner.
Goudarz arrayed his ranks with supreme tactical mastercraft: he anchored his right wing against the mountain to protect it from flanking attacks, and secured his left wing along the bank of a swift river. Ahead of the cavalry he positioned rows of spearmen, mace-bearers, and archers; behind them stood heavy armored horsemen, flanked by towering war-elephants that formed a living fortress. He entrusted the right wing to Faribarz, Gorazeh, and Zovareh; the left wing to Rohham, Gostaham, and Gazhdaham; and the rear guard to Gev, Gorgin, and Zangeh-ye Shavaran. High atop the mountain peaks, Goudarz posted eagle-eyed sentinels tasked with signaling the slightest movement of the enemy.
Seeing the impenetrable setup of the Iranian host, Piran was filled with bitter anguish. Nevertheless, he organized his own forces, placing his brother Human at the center with thirty thousand elite swordsmen, putting Lahhak and Farshidvard on the right, and assigning Andariman and Avakhest to the left. Furthermore, he dispatched his son Ruin with ten thousand seasoned warriors into a dense woodland ambush behind the mountain, ready to strike the Iranian rear if Goudarz abandoned his high ground.
Thus, two titan hosts faced each other across the plain for three whole days and nights without a single bowstring snapping or a single warrior breaking rank. Goudarz refused to advance into the open plain lest his rear be exposed to Ruin's ambush, patiently awaiting a favorable wind and an auspicious alignment of the stars. Piran likewise held his ground, waiting in vain for Goudarz's patience to break and force a premature assault.