When the messenger brought news of Iran's plight to Zal the White-Haired, a fierce fire ignited within the hero's soul. Without delay, Zal gathered a vengeful host and rode swiftly toward Mehrab, the wise king of Kabul. Seeing Mehrab standing steadfast and resolute, Zal's confidence surged; he realized that alongside such an ally, the Turanian invaders were nothing more than a handful of dust before the storm. Zal declared to Mehrab that this very night he would strike terror into the enemy's hearts so they might learn that the son of Sam had returned.
Under the cover of night, Zal strung his legendary bow and loosed three colossal shafts—each as thick as a tree branch—straight into three sectors of the Turanian encampment. At dawn, when the Turanian warriors beheld the massive arrows, terror gripped their ranks, for all recognized the unmistakable marksmanship of Zal. As the sun rose high, war drums, trumpets, and Indian cymbals resounded, and the two armies lined up across the plain.
Khazarvan, the fierce Turanian champion, roared forward with mace and buckler, striking Zal's chest so violently that it shattered his armor. Though shaken for a moment, Zal withdrew briefly as the Kabulian warriors shielded him, donning a fresh coat of mail. Enraged, Zal seized his father Sam's ox-headed mace and charged back like a ravenous lion. He brought the heavy mace down upon Khazarvan's head with such crushing force that the earth turned spotted with blood like a leopard's skin. Trampling his corpse, Zal pressed forward.
Seeing Khazarvan destroyed, Shamasas lost his nerve and cowered in the swirling dust. Zal then spotted Kolbad and strung his bow, launching a heavy poplar arrow that pierced right through the steel links of Kolbad's armor belt, pinning him dead to his own saddle. Devastated by the loss of their two greatest champions, Shamasas and his troops panicked, breaking ranks and fleeing wildly across the desert.
Yet Shamasas's ordeal was far from over. As his battered host retreated through the arid wastes toward Afrasiab, they collided head-on with the army of Qaran son of Kaveh, who was returning victorious from his clash with Vayseh's forces. Recognizing the fleeing enemy, the vengeful Qaran sounded his brass flutes and launched a devastating assault upon the exhausted Turanians, scattering them into the wind. Shamasas barely escaped with a handful of survivors into the dark haze of battle.