It's a manticore* (in the vaguest of senses) that popped into my head after I saw a picture of one done by Neondragon (see below). Now that I look back, the colors don't seem quite right-- in my head, it's more of a golden "burning beauty" kinda thing.

Will develop this more. The design has already been refined since this picture (new sketches are at my lj).

Art(c) S.Liao
Textures from the Mayang Texture Library
Inspiration from Neondragon's picture here: http://www.neondragonart.com/junk/playrooment_manticore.jpg

*For more info, see this article at Encyclopedia Mythica: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/manticore.html