The Colhua offered the Aztecs refuge at a nearby place called Tizapan, a bare patch of volcanic rock infested with snakes. To their surprise the Aztecs not only survived but also thrived. As one chronicle describes it, they "rejoiced as soon as they saw the snakes, and they roasted and cooked them all and ate them all up."" Impressed by such resilience, Achitometl, the ruler of Colhuacan, and other leaders of Colhuacan put them to work as warriors, and thus the Aztecs won the confidence of their hosts.
However, soon Huitzilopochtli came among them and told them to go where they could capture and dominate. The god also told them to bring a war on the Colhuacans. He told them to go and ask Achitometl for his daughter. The Aztecs went to the ruler as commanded and asked for his daughter to be their god's bride. He consented, and they took her back to Tizapan, where Huitzilopochtli appeared again to them and told them to kill and skin Achitometl's daughter. He told them that when they were finished doing that, to dress some priest in her skin and go call on Achitometl. .
They did so and Achitometl, unaware of his daughter's death, accepted their invitation to attend the consecration of his daughter as a goddess. Entering the darkened temple, he placed gifts of blood and flowers at the feet of the idol there. Then he offered incense. This began to burn, and the room lighted up with fire. Thus the king suddenly perceived the priest who was seated next to the idol, and saw that he was dressed in his daughter's skin. The king was filled with a wild terror.
In rage the Colhua banished the Aztecs to the swamps of Lake Tetzcoco. The soggy land seemed hopeless for the Aztecs. Then on a low island surrounded by reeds they noticed an eagle resting on a prickly pear. As they watched, the eagle spread its wings and screamed in triumph, the god-given sign. Their journey had ended, and their bloodthirsty spread across the Valley of Mexico was about to begin.
