High upon the battlements of the Gonbadan fortress, Nush-Azar, the noble son of Esfandiyar, kept a vigilant watch over the horizon, awaiting any sign of an Iranian host. A cloud of dust arose from the plains, revealing a lone horseman wearing a dark, two-plumed helmet. Nush-Azar hastened to his imprisoned father to report the rider's approach. At Esfandiyar's command, the heavy citadel gates swung open, and Jamasp, the sage vizier of Iran, entered, offering the greetings of King Goshtasp to the captive prince.
Yet Esfandiyar, his heart hardened by his father's tyranny and Gorazm's deadly slander, received the messenger with bitter disdain. He questioned the worth of greetings from a monarch who rewarded boundless loyalty with heavy chains and dark dungeons, taking Heaven as his witness to Goshtasp's injustice. Jamasp sought to reawaken the prince's royal honor and filial duty, recounting the tragedy at the Fire Temple of Nush-Azar, where the venerable King Lohrasp and eighty pious priests were slaughtered by the Turanians, and describing the agony of Esfandiyar's sisters, Homay and Beh-Afarid, who were dragged away in captivity, weeping barefoot across the desert. Still, Esfandiyar remained cold, reminding Jamasp that when he languished in the dark dungeon, neither father, nor sisters, nor brothers raised a single sigh for his deliverance.
It was only when Jamasp spoke of Farshidvard—Esfandiyar's beloved brother—describing him lying mortally wounded upon the battlefield, his armor shattered, calling out in agony for his brother, that Esfandiyar's resolve fractured. The tide of grief and fraternal love broke his bitterness. Finding the blacksmiths' work with files and heavy hammers too slow, the invincible prince flexed his mighty sinews; with a titanic effort of brute force, he shattered the heavy steel fetters and Roman iron cuffs from his limbs. The immense surge of power and pain caused him to collapse unconscious. Upon awakening, he purified his bruised body in a hot bath, donned his royal cuirass and heroic robes, restored his champion steed, and ordered his armor polished—ready to ride forth like a thunderbolt to avenge his house and reclaim the glory of Iran.