Sylania, high priestess of Zoa, sat beside one of the Temple’s great windows, letting herself bathe under the glass-filtered light. She was neither happy, nor sad; her secret lover, Phaethon of the Seekers, had followed the Speaker’s armies to the North to drive off the invading Shadows, so she had good reason to be worried about him. Yet, she had woken up from a sweet dream that had raised her spirits: The Goddess of Life herself smothered the incoming darkness with her radiance, her champions’ blades sparkling as the Lifegiving Light fell on them.
She smiled in hope and whispered a secret prayer for her paramour. Hope fuels Life, she thought.
Etania teleth Zoa.

~~~

text supplied by ~mistseeker
an artwork done for a local art challenge. pencil-sketched and colored with photoshop 7.0.

see work-in-progress here.

the references i took from two of the photos i found while searching in dA, i think they do deserve some credit:
pose reference photo flipped and slightly rotated to fit into the composition of the picture. i loved it when i painted her white dress
window and wall reference i changed the window pattern to fit the fantasy theme. the wall and shadows are great so i painted them from the photo. man, the crevices and the tiny bumps are alot of hard work @_@"

hope you like it!