The Covenant of Turquoise and the Fire of Life

In the dawn of the Persian Empire, a sacred fire temple stood in the eastern part of the Iranian Plateau. Within it burned the "Atar Fire"—a light of life bestowed upon humanity by Ahura Mazda, guarding the oasis’s vitality and the goodness in people’s hearts. Darius, an apprentice priest of the temple, had guarded the sacred fire with a pure heart since childhood. Around his neck hung a hereditary turquoise pendant, regarded by Persians as "the crystallization of sky and earth," symbolizing loyalty and immortality.

Ahriman, the evil god, envied the warmth of the mortal world and sent his minions to unleash the "Wind of Desolation." Sweeping across the plateau, the fierce winds dried rivers into cracks, withered vegetation into ashes, and even the Atar Fire in the temple dimmed—its golden flames fading to dark red, as if on the verge of extinction. Despair devoured people’s goodness, and they fled their homes one after another, leaving only Darius and the elderly high priest to stand guard in the temple.

On his deathbed, the elderly priest summoned Darius to the sacred fire: "The source of the Atar Fire lies in the Spring of Life, deep within the Ardashir Mountains. Submerged in the spring is a piece of Creation Turquoise, which has absorbed ten thousand years of sunlight and goodness, serving as the fire’s energy core. Now the spring is frozen by the devil’s Ice of Oblivion. You must take your turquoise pendant, melt the ice, and let the Spring of Life flow again—only then can the sacred fire reignite." With that, he handed Darius a bronze key inlaid with haoma patterns and closed his eyes forever.

Packing his belongings, Darius set out for the Ardashir Mountains, carrying the bronze key and his turquoise pendant. He crossed the barren Lut Desert, where the midday sun scorched him almost to collapse. Parched with thirst, the turquoise pendant around his neck suddenly emanated a cool glow, and sweet nectar welled up in his mouth—nourishment from the power of goodness contained within the pendant.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountains, a frozen river blocked his path, its ice surface etched with faint devilish fangs. At that moment, a Simurgh with plumage as brilliant as flame circled down. The divine bird that guarded sacred fire and truth spoke in a voice like the crackle of burning fire: "Your loyalty and goodness have awakened me. The Ice of Oblivion is no ordinary frost—it is forged from people’s despair and suspicion. Only pure goodness and courage can melt it."

The Simurgh carried Darius across the frozen river to a cave where the Spring of Life resided. Deep within the cave, the massive Creation Turquoise lay submerged in the frozen spring, entangled in the devil’s icy chains. Darius took out the bronze key and inserted it into the chain’s lock, but it would not turn—for the devil’s illusions surged before him: the calls of his family, the accusations of those who had fled their homes, and the fear of death, all seeking to make him abandon his quest.

Clutching his pendant tightly, Darius remembered the priest’s teachings: "Goodness is not the absence of fear, but the choice to persist despite it." Closing his eyes, he poured all his love for his homeland, compassion for its people, and resolve to guard the sacred fire into the pendant. A miracle unfolded—both the pendant and the Creation Turquoise in the cave erupted in dazzling blue light. The two glows intertwined into a warm torrent, instantly melting the Ice of Oblivion and the icy chains.

The Spring of Life flowed again, its clear waters carrying the turquoise’s energy down the mountains toward the fire temple. Darius returned to the temple with fragments of the Creation Turquoise and cast them into the sacred fire, which burst into a brilliant golden blaze—hotter and brighter than ever before. Wherever the spring water flowed, withered plants sprouted anew, dried rivers resumed their course, and the exiled people, drawn by the sacred fire’s glow, returned to their homes.

From then on, the Atar Fire burned perpetually in the temple, safeguarding the vitality of the Iranian Plateau. Darius became the new high priest, dividing the Creation Turquoise fragments among the people so that each might wear a small piece, remembering the truth: "Goodness is as resilient as turquoise; life is as fiery as flame."

Generations passed, and Darius’s story was told and retold. The turquoise pendant became a symbol of faith in the hearts of Persians. Occasionally, the Simurgh would appear above the fire temple, witnessing the legacy of people upholding goodness and protecting their homeland. And the Spring of Life in the Ardashir Mountains continued to flow, nourishing the land and human hearts—reminding the world that as long as goodness endures in one’s heart, the fire of life will never be extinguished. Even in darkness, light and vitality shall be reborn.