Rustam drew his death-dealing sword from its sheath. With each blow he separated the bodies from the heads of two warriors, as if with a pair of scissors. When he came near Owlad, Rustam uncoiled his long lasso and threw the noose around the head of that young warrior. Rustam pulled him from his horse, bound his hands together, and tied the lasso to Rakhsh’s saddle. He said to Owlad: “If you will be my guide in the country of Mazandaran, and take me to King Kavus and to the White Div’s lair, I will take the crown from the king of Mazandaran and give it you instead. But if you lie to me, I will separate your head from your body!”

Owlad replied to him: “Cool your anger. Do not take my soul from me and I will carry out all your orders. I know Mazandaran well. It is three hundred miles to the city where you will find King Kavus. From that city it is another three hundred miles, along a dangerous and difficult road, to the home of the White Div. He lives in a mountain cavern guarded by twelve thousand ferocious divs. The White Div himself is like a great mountain, and the earth trembles beneath him. You are brave but you are only one man. Even if you were made of iron, would you dare face these demons all alone?”

Rustam smiled at these words and replied: “If you guide me, you will see what this one man, with the help God, will do against these villains. Now, show me the road that leads to Kavus, and let us be off.”

Rustam, seated gaily on Rakhsh, took off toward the city of Mazandaran, and Owlad ran after him like the wind. Day and night they raced across the countryside. They did not stop until they had reached the house where the divs kept the king prisoner.