Synopsis

The heart of Save: Me revolves around the brutal, dark sport of the Crucible, a multi-dimensional spectacle that fuses ancient gladiatorial combat with magic. The sport spans countless worlds, where entire, massive Legions battle to the death for power, wealth, and divine amusement. This grimdark sport fuels economies, crowns monarchs, and sates the darkest things from the beyond. It is within this chaotic, cosmic brawl that one reluctant fighter from a small, blue, insignificant planet becomes the eye of a much older storm. 

​

After an apocalyptic event that leaves the Earth partially destroyed, Ryo Laene, a young man reeling from the weight of survivor's guilt and alienation, awakens in a realm that seems torn from myth. His only anchor is Sara, his close friend, left comatose and soulless after the catastrophe. Determined to retrieve her spirit, Ryo must survive a landscape shaped by madness and ruled by faceless gods—chief among them, the Wretch, whose incessant whisper gnaws at the fringes of his mind.

But unlike those glittery fantasy stories of fairies and indignant, though welcoming, sharp-eared elves, Ryo is instead met with scorn and nearly executed upon arrival. After narrowly dodging exile, he receives his first assignment:

​

Voluntary Enslavement.

Given shelter by a gruff blacksmith who sets upon him impossible tasks, he is later mentored by Haven, a spectral mage cursed by the Wretch. Through her, Ryo learns the art of war and the language of Ayr—the living magic of Elyxis, this new, beautifully perilous, primary world. When Haven uncovers rumors of a cure for Sara's trapped soul in a realm that no sane traveler returns from. Constantly, comically reminded of his lacking strength, Ryo joins the Crucible in hopes of growing strong enough to face the same cosmic evil that left the Earth in Shatters.

Within his Legion, Ryo finds both disastrous and endearing companions: Ruby, a sardonic, lovely assassin; Hayle, a stoic knight of frost; and Axel, a lightning-born Mystic whose arrogance is only outshone by his carnal desires. Together, they fight, bleed, and sleep their way through the carnage as Ryo begins to unravel the truth of his existence.

​

His emerging power marks him as a Tainted, a being infused with dark, dimensional energies from the Hollow, so volatile it corrodes both mind and matter. The more he attempts to uncover, the closer an unknown entity from the Deep Darkness creeps. When his instability is exposed within the Crucible, the fragile reality he's worked so painstakingly to construct, slowly begins to crumble, opening a path for his ever-watching nemesis to crawl through: the Wretch.

Haunted, hunted, and half-mad, Ryo's choice narrows to two diverging paths: embrace the darkness consuming him, or become the twisted monster that destroyed his world.