Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter #1 (2024)

The isles of Jarnlünd were once united under a single ruler, but twenty-one years ago the great king died and the Old Kingdom fell, replaced by a patchwork of perpetually warring territories ruled by warlords known as Jarls. The endless Allwinter fell upon the land and even colour itself vanished; leaving all men, beasts and objects as naught but grey. In this forsaken land the legendary warrior Slade, he who is called The Deathstroke, sells his blade. No longer interested in honour or glory, he fights for whoever can pay him the most. Six months after the War of the Three Kingdoms in the south Slade is hired by an old associate called Jarl Vandar, better known as Vandal Savage; to help him win a war against rival warlord Black Mask. Rather than join the battle, Slade assassinates Black Mask from a distance with a crossbow, and his disheartened men retreat. Slade leaves the battlefield, saying he was hired to win the war and it is as good as won. He advises Vandar to show mercy to Black Mask's fleeing men, but Savage has his ice witch Killer Frost kill them all. After the battle, Savage holds a feast to celebrate their victory, but although Slade attends he takes no part in the merriment and only drinks from his own flask. Slade asks Savage to pay him so he can leave, and Savage says that the Slade he knew was always eager for the next battle; but Slade simply replies that that man is dead. Savage asks Slade to walk with him and they, along with Frost, go onto the battlements of Savage's fortress. They look out on the small city which has grown up around Savage's seat of power. Savage tells Slade that he plans to continue to defeat each of the other Jarls in battle and take their territory to build an empire in Jarnlünd out of the ashes of the Old Kingdom. Slade is uninterested in Savage's ambitions and asks again for his gold, but Savage offers to pay him far more if he would capture a monster which threatens everything he is trying to build. Slade agrees and sets sail for the Isle of Skyhjem with three longboats of men and Killer Frost. Along the way they are attacked by a kraken, which sinks two of the ships. Frost's magic is powerless against the creature, so Slade leaps into its maw dual-wielding axes. The kraken dives below the waves, and the survivors on the last ship are shocked, believing that the living legend is dead. However, the kraken floats back up to the surface, dead, and Slade hacks his way out of it. Six days later, the remaining warriors make landfall on Skyhjem. They sneak into an old temple, where a group of people in robes are conducting rites before a statue. Slade and the others swiftly kill all but two of the cultists: a woman and a boy. When he hears the woman's voice, Slade realises she is his former wife Adeline. Killer Frost shoots Adeline with a spear of ice and goes to grab the boy, who is the one Savage wants. However, Slade throws his axe at the witch, grievously injuring her. Frost retreats, but warns Slade that Savage will make him pay for his betrayal. Slade approaches the boy, whose name is Alec, and rips off his robe; wanting to see why Savage wanted him. To his shock, Slade sees that Alec has colour.