Death of a Ninja

This is an illustration done for this weeks friendly art challenge over at [link] , topic being "ending it all"
The story behind it is as follows:

A highly skilled ninja is demanded by his master to assassinate the child of a rivalling lord.

The ninja, old and weary, cannot make himself to do this. And he does not want to go against his Master. He has sent countless souls to their awaiting judgment in the afterlife, but an innocent child...

So he climbs the highest mountain, to get as close to his Gods as he can, before uttering his silent prayers. Hoping he was heard, the ninja drives his sword into his body and silently slips into the afterlife.

I wanted to portray this but still maintaining a peaceful, tranquil feeling over it, even though it shows a suicide.

Painted in several layers, no reference used, spent an evening on this one. Photoshop and a wacom intuos 3 tablet used.

As for using this image, refer to my rules in my journal here: [link]