When the first watch of the dark night had passed, the heavy clatter of the lead camels and the ringing of caravan bells pierced the obscurity. Prince Esfandiyar, full of royal grace, spurred his warhorse and rode laughing from the rear of the host to the vanguard. Reaching the front, he beheld a deep, bottomless sea churning beneath the gloom. The lead camel carrying the driver sank into the treacherous mire; but Esfandiyar swiftly reached out, seized both camel and driver by the thighs, and plucked them effortlessly from the abyss. Gorgsar, the villainous Turanian guide who had led them to this watery trap hoping to drown the army, trembled in mortal terror.
Esfandiyar ordered the bound captive Gorgsar brought before him in heavy fetters. 'O foul Gorgsar,' the prince roared, 'didst thou not swear there was no water in these wastes, hoping the scorched sun would consume us? Why hast thou turned dust into a drownable sea to destroy my host?' Gorgsar defiantly spat back: 'The death of thy army is to me as radiant as the sun and moon! What have I ever received from thee but chains and misery?' Esfandiyar marvelled at the captive's audacity. Suppressing his rage, he offered a royal pact: 'If thou speakest the truth and guide us safely across, I shall appoint thee ruler over Ruyin Dez once Arjasp falls, and spare all thy kin.' Heartened by this vow, Gorgsar kissed the dust, repented, and revealed the shallow ford through the surging waters.
The prince commanded his soldiers to drain their heavy waterskins into the sea to lighten the loads. The entire host entered the water together and emerged safely on the dry bank beyond, restoring their battle lines. They marched until they pitched camp just ten leagues from the legendary Ruyin Dez. Sitting down to a victory feast, Esfandiyar ordered his iron breastplate, helmet, and heavy blade brought forth, and summoned the now-unbound Gorgsar once more.
'Tell me,' Esfandiyar challenged, 'when I sever Arjasp's head to avenge my grandfather Lohrasp, and destroy Kahram and Andariman who slew our brave warriors—will thy heart rejoice or grieve?' Unable to contain his hatred, Gorgsar cursed the prince bitterly: 'May an evil star govern thy fate! May a blade cleave thy waist, and thy blood-soaked corpse lie unburied in the dust!' Enraged by his venomous tongue, Esfandiyar drew his Indian steel and struck Gorgsar upon the crown, cleaving him in two down to the chest, and cast his corpse into the waves for the fishes.
Thereafter, Esfandiyar ascended a high ridge to scout Ruyin Dez. Before him stood a colossal fortress of sheer iron, three leagues high and forty in girth, its ramparts so wide that four horsemen could ride abreast along the top. Realizing that brute force could never breach such an impregnable stronghold, the prince sighed in deep frustration. Looking down upon the desert, he spotted two Turanian hunters with four hounds. Descending swift as an eagle, Esfandiyar captured them at spearpoint and interrogated them. They revealed that 30,000 elite warriors held the fort under Arjasp, with ten years' worth of provisions sealed inside and 100,000 reinforcements available from China. Having extracted all vital intelligence, Esfandiyar put both hunters to the sword to safeguard his secrets, turning his mind toward strategy and cunning to conquer the Iron Fortress.